Cyberpunk 2077 devs have no plans to abandon franchise after Phantom Liberty DLC
While the historically troubled launch of Cyberpunk 2077 led to the game being delisted on PlayStation and CD Projekt Red losing roughly 75% of its company value, the Polish developers are insistent on making something of the franchise, with no plans to abandon it anytime soon.
When Cyberpunk 2077 first launched in 2020, seven years on from its reveal, its state upon release was near-cataclysmic. Numerous bugs and critical performance issues led toSony taking an unprecedented stepin removing the game altogether from its PlayStation Store and even honoring refunds to all who purchased it.
Lawsuits were filed against the studiowhile devs worked on sizeable updates and new content drops over the following months. Although things are still far from perfect, the game today is now in a considerably better spot than it was at first due to these improvements, with CD Projekt Red even confident enough to reveal the game’s first proper expansion.
Phantom Libertyis on the way to new-gen platforms only at some stage in 2023 to continue Cyberpunk 2077’s story. While it’s framed as the ‘only planned expansion’ for the game, devs seemingly have no plans in leaving the IP behind once it’s out in the wild.
Despite its problematic launch, Cybperunk has since gone on tosell over 18 million copies, making it the second biggest CD Projekt Red title behind The Witcher 3. Given its base, the team is committed to expanding on its vision moving forward.
“We’re totally, fully committed to developing the Cyberpunk IP further, beyond this particular Cyberpunk expansion,” Vice President of business development Michal Nowakowski said during thecompany’s H1 2022 earnings call.
“We’ve put a lot of effort into building this franchise and we definitely want to continue to build upon what was built, with new stories, new experiences, new content. Not just the video game format… In terms of expansions, there’s just going to be one major expansion. However, there’s going to be new stuff in the future.”
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Exactly what that ‘stuff’ might be, is anyone’s guess. We’re already in store for an anime release this month inCyberpunk Edgerunners, but that could just be the tip of the iceberg. From books to films and even potential spinoff games in Night City, the possibilities are wide open.
We could even see the re-emergence of2077’s canceled multiplayer project. That was announced in 2019 before the companydecided to “reconsider”in 2021 due to the game’s reception.
We’ll have to wait and see just what CD Projekt Red has in store for the future of the franchise, but it appears the neon-drenched dystopia will be serving as the backdrop for many more stories to come down the line.
