CD Projekt Red has been working on the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, which was first announced in 2022. The Polish company set up a new studio in Boston, Massachusetts, at the time to spearhead development on the action-RPG alongside its existing Vancouver-based team. While CDPR revealed The Witcher 4 in December, the developer has remained tightlipped on the Cyberpunk sequel. New details about the game, however, have finally surfaced that shed some light on one of the game’s planned open world features.
Cyberpunk 2077 Sequel Details
According to role descriptions for an open position at CD Projekt Red’s Boston studio, the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel will feature “the most realistic and reactive crowd system in any game to date”.
The studio is looking to hire a Lead Encounter Designer for the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, codenamed Orion. According to the job description, the role would require the person to “help formulate solutions for and help create memorable gameplay encounters that will thrill and excite our players”.
Further daily responsibilities of the role require the person to “work in close collaboration with the systems design team to create the most realistic and reactive crowd system in any game to date”.
While job listings merely provide an early idea of the development team’s intentions with a project, the description suggests CD Projekt Red is setting expectations high with the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077.
Cyberpunk 2077 sequel could make crowds more reactive and realistic
Photo Credit: CD Projekt Red
What We Know About Orion
The developer announced Project Orion in October 2022, saying at the time that the game would take “the Cyberpunk franchise further and continue harnessing the potential of this dark future universe”.
CD Projekt Red established the Boston studio to work on the game alongside the existing Vancouver-based team as part of the North American division.
Just like The Witcher 4 and other The Witcher titles in the pipeline at the studio, Orion is being developed in Unreal Engine 5. In an interview in 2023, Cyberpunk 2077 director Gabe Amatangelo had said that switching from the in-house REDengine to Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 5 didn’t feel like “starting from scratch”.
CD Projekt Red has not revealed any details about the story and setting of the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel. There’s no confirmation on a release timeline either, but the RPG is likely years away from launch.
