Cyberpunk 2077
CD Projekt Red spoke to investors in a strategy update about the current status of the Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer. There were no details about the game mode itself - but Adam Kiciński (President of CD Projekt) indicated extensive changes for the release of the multiplayer. So the game mode could either come later or come in a completely different form."A while ago we indicated that our next AAA project would be a multiplayer cyberpunk game, but we decided to do this Rethink plan [...] Instead of focusing on one big online experience, let's focus on equipping all franchises with [an online element] one day. "
Recommended editorial content At this point you will find external content from [PLATTFORM]. To protect your personal data, external integrations are only displayed if you confirm this by clicking on "Load all external content": Load all external content I consent to external content being displayed to me. This means that personal data is transmitted to third-party platforms. Read more about our privacy policy . External content More on this in our data protection declaration. What exactly Adam Kiciński and the CD Projekt Red team mean by this has not yet been explained in more detail. It also remains unclear what this means for the multiplayer of Cyberpunk 2077. According to previous plans, the multiplayer part should probably start in the coming year. The many problems that Cyberpunk 2077 had at the launch are probably also responsible for the rethinking among those responsible.
It is already known that CD Projekt Red would like to start new projects in the Witcher and Cyberpunk universes in 2022. On Tuesday the developers also released a new update for Cyberpunk 2077, which brings over 500 optimizations.
Source: CD Projekt
The ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ Mess Appears To Have Scrapped The Standalone Multiplayer Game
Cyberpunk 2077
CDPRIn the wake of Cyberpunk 2077’s botched launch and the damage CDPR has suffered to its reputation, it stood to reason that they would be reconsidering a thing or two about their plans for the game and their overall company strategy going forward.
Now in a recent strategy update video, CDPR has explained their new plan for moving forward with both The Witcher and Cyberpunk, but also remained light on details short of the very near term.
The original plan was for Cyberpunk to be a big, non-controversial hit, and after a next-gen update and DLCs, CDPR would release a separate multiplayer game based in Night City. Here’s what they said about it back then on an earnings call:
'Obviously, it's not entirely standalone as it comes from the universe of Cyberpunk and is very much related to the concept of single player Cyberpunk we—I came up with But from our perspective, it's—is another independent production and independent team of people works on it.'
But now plans have changed, and that idea appears to be scrapped. From yesterday’s video:
“Previously we hinted that our next triple-A would be a multiplayer Cyberpunk game, but we have decided to reconsider this plan. Given our new, more systematic and agile approach, instead of primarily focusing on one big online experience or game, we are focusing on bringing online into all of our franchises one day. We are building an online technology that can be seamlessly integrated into development of our future games.'
I have believed that CDPR’s ultimate plan was to turn Cyberpunk into a GTA Online-like money-printing experience with this multiplayer version, but if that is still the goal, it seems a lot further off now.
I also am starting to doubt CDPR’s longer term commitment to Cyberpunk 2077 itself, for a few reasons.
First, in this entire strategy announcement, they did not release any information about their upcoming plans past this year. Yes, that meant no confirmation of The Witcher 4 or anything, but it also didn’t shed any light on Cyberpunk 2077 plans other than what they’ve already said for 2021, more fixes, free (small) DLC and the next-gen console version of the game. No confirmation of larger, paid DLCs to come.
Cyberpunk 2077
CDPRAnd their talk about online play does not make it seem like they will just bolt-on an online component to Cyberpunk in the future instead of making a standalone game. They talk about working on technology to integrate online to future games. Future meaning…not the game they’ve already put out.
While I do not think CDPR is ditching Cyberpunk as an IP, Cyberpunk 2077 as a game itself may be another story, and given how poorly things have gone, it’s possible that instead of devoting even more work to expansive paid DLC or a separate online game, they may instead just move on to start making an online-integrated sequel, cutting their losses and going forward. That is not confirmed via this strategy video, and yet nothing about this screams confidence in the future of 2077 itself.
We’ll see if they’ll expand on this at all in the future, but one of their other new tenets is not to release info or previews about games until they’re closer to launch to…avoid what happened with Cyberpunk. CDPR is currently in a weird spot, and we’ll see if they can turn things around with either 2077 fixes, or full-on future releases adopting new strategies going forward.
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