A sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, codenamed Project Orion, is in the works at CD Projekt Red. The Polish studio has stayed tightlipped on the project since it was first announced in 2022, but sparse details about the game have surfaced over time. Now, Cyberpunk franchise creator Mike Pondsmith has shared new information about the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, revealing that the game would include a second location in addition to Night City.
Cyberpunk 2077 Sequel to Feature New Location
Pondsmith, who created the Cyberpunk tabletop RPG that inspired the setting, characters and story of Cyberpunk 2077, addressed Project Orion in a new interview with Polish outlet TVGRY at the Digital Dragons Conference. He said while he was not as directly involved with the sequel as he was with the first game, he had seen the scripts for the sequel.
“Last week I was wandering around, talking to different departments and seeing what they had, ‘Oh look, this is the new cyberware, what do you think?’ ‘Oh yeah, that’s pretty good, that works here.’,” Pondsmith said.
He revealed that Project Orion would feature a second city in addition to the first game’s Night City but stopped short of sharing details about the new location beyond a tease of what it would feel like.
“I spent a lot of time talking to one of the environment guys, and he was explaining how the new place in Orion… because there’s another city we visit. I’m not telling you any more than that, but there’s another city we visit,” Pondsmith said.
He confirmed that Night City was “still there” in the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel and described the second city as “Chicago gone wrong”.
“I remember looking at it and going, ‘Yeah, I understand the feel that you’re going for, and this really does work, and it doesn’t feel like Blade Runner — it feels more like Chicago gone wrong’. And I said, ‘Yeah, I can see this working.’”
Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City is noted for its high level of detailPhoto Credit: CD Projekt Red
Project Orion Details
Including two fully-fledged cities would expand the scope of Project Orion considerably, making it a much bigger game than Cyberpunk 2077, especially considering the detail present in Night City in the first game. CD Projekt Red further expanded the city in the Phantom Liberty expansion by adding a new district named Dogtown.
While a second location is a significant revelation, CD Projekt Red has been guarded about the sequel since it was revealed as Project Orion in 2022. The studio said in its announcement at the time that the game would take “the Cyberpunk franchise further and continue harnessing the potential of this dark future universe.”
Earlier this year, a role description for an open position at CD Projekt Red’s Boston studio, which is spearheading development on the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, said the game would feature “the most realistic and reactive crowd system in any game to date”.
Project Orion is being developed in Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 5 and will likely launch on PC and current-generation consoles. CD Projekt, however, has not yet confirmed a launch timeline and the game is likely years away from release.
The studio is also working on The Witcher 4, which may not release before 2027. A host of other The Witcher games are also in development, including a full remake of The Witcher, the first game in the series that released in 2007.
