Cyberpunk 2077 Sequel Enters Full Development, CDPR Adds Fable's Former Narrative Lead

CD Projekt Red has announced that it has entered full development on Project Orion, which is the current codename for the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077. Prior to the release of the Phantom Liberty expansion this past year, CD Projekt had already confirmed that it was in the conceptual stage of a follow-up entry. Now, that concepting process has come to an end as CDPR is now beginning to staff up more heavily to work on the Cyberpunk sequel. 

In a press release shared by CD Projekt today, the company announced that the group behind Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is "spearheading" the sequel in a new studio out of Boston. While many veterans from the original Cyberpunk 2077 are coming back, CDPR has also added industry talent that includes Dan Hernberg (Amazon Games, Blizzard), Ryan Barnard (Ubisoft), and Alan Villani (WB Games). Anna Megill, who formerly worked on Control and the upcoming Fable, has also joined Project Orion as the game's lead writer. She's being joined by Alexander Freed, another writer who previously worked at BioWare. 

"Project Orion is currently in the early stages of development, with studio veterans previously involved in Cyberpunk 2077 and its spy-thriller Phantom Liberty expansion spearheading the project, including Gabriel Amatangelo (Game Director), Paweł Sasko (Associate Game Director), Igor Sarzyński (Creative Director), Andrzej Stopa (Cinematic Director), Kacper Niepokólczycki (Environment Art Director), Sarah Grümmer (Acting Lead Quest Designer) and Kacper Kościeński (Engineering Director)," CD Projekt Red said today. "This group is now part of a larger team based in the newly created CDPR studio in Boston, Massachusetts."

It's worth noting that even though Project Orion is now officially in what can be called "development", the next Cyberpunk game is still very far away. For it to have now exited the concept stage means that Orion is still only in pre-production. During this phase, CDPR will surely begin to staff up even further and will begin outlining the full scope of the sequel and its story. With all of this in mind, it's still going to be many, many years until Cyberpunk 2078, or whatever it will be called, sees the light of day.