Cyberpunk 2077 Sequel in Pre-Production: Potentially Titled Cyberpunk 2

Oh man, so it’s Wednesday and boom—good stuff coming at us! Cyberpunk 2077’s sequel is officially stepping into pre-production. Got the nod from CD Projekt on that. And guess what? It’s not called Project Orion anymore. Nope. Just plain old Cyberpunk 2. Kinda like when your friend’s nickname suddenly stops being a thing and now they’re just “Dave” again.

They dropped this news right during their latest money talk shindig. Like, congrats to the Cyberpunk team for making it this far! Meanwhile, they’re all geared up to roll out the first game on Nintendo Switch 2. Anyway—oh, hang on, there was something else…

Oh yeah, here’s the kicker. CD Projekt Red team (those folks behind the next big Cyberpunk shindig) wrapped up the project’s concept phase recently. Poof, Project Orion is history. Cyberpunk 2 is revving into preproduction now.

Flipping through the full slideshow they shared… as of April 30 this year, there were 96 devs knee-deep in Cyberpunk 2. Back in February, it was like 84. Not a huge jump. Makes you wonder, right? Meanwhile, 422 people are tangled up in Witcher 4! Whoa. That’s huge. And let’s not forget those 131 folks doing the “shared services” stuff; they’re like the glue holding everything together, sorting out the localisation circus and QA of different games.

Oh, oh! This comes out right when Phantom Liberty’s expansion has blown through 10 million copies. And The Witcher 3? A whopping 60 million copies in the hands of gamers. It’s been a decade since Witcher 3, and still, folks can’t get enough of monster-slaying and all that jazz in Dogtown.

Now, here’s the bit that tickles my curiosity—will they stick with Cyberpunk 2 forever or maybe slap a year onto it to mirror Cyberpunk 2077’s style? I mean, knowing Mike Pondsmith (that genius behind the original TTRPG), it’s gonna be a dive into some messed-up city vibes, sorta like Chicago but with a serious edge. Such a trip, right?