Cyberpunk 2 is picking up speed. CD Projekt Red has started pre-production on the long-awaited sequel to Cyberpunk 2077. But it will be a while before we return to Night City.
The neon lights of Night City are flickering again: CD Projekt has a lot of news to share about Cyberpunk 2.
The most important thing is the official name: the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 is now officially called Cyberpunk 2. The former working title Orion has been shelved.
However, the Polish studio also commented on the development progress and a possible release date for Cyberpunk 2 during the presentation of its latest financial results.
The current status of Cyberpunk 2
Piotr Nielubowicz, CD Projekt’s CFO, pointed to the continued success of the Phantom Liberty expansion for Cyberpunk 2077. It has “reached another sales milestone and has been purchased by ten million players. This is an outstanding result considering that it has only been 20 months since its release, and it confirms the gaming community’s continued interest in the Cyberpunk universe.”
“In light of these developments, I am even more pleased to announce another important milestone in our work on the next big game in this franchise: a few weeks ago, Cyberpunk 2 – previously known as Project Orion – completed its concept phase and entered pre-production. Congratulations to the entire team!”
Cyberpunk 2 is no longer a secret It was first announced in 2023 that CD Projekt’s Boston office was working on the role-playing game sequel.
In pre-production, the cornerstones of a game are defined: How big should it be, what core features will it contain, what will the design look like?
All of this must be determined in advance so that graphic designers, level designers, and programmers are not working in different directions when production begins.
Big plans for the future
While CD Projekt Red’s main focus is currently still on The Witcher 4, which was already in full production at the end of 2024, Cyberpunk 2 will get a big boost next year. Michał Nowakowski, co-CEO of CD Projekt, explained in an investor call that the Cyberpunk 2 development team will be the “primary recruitment focus” for 2025. This suggests that the team will be expanded in the coming months to accelerate development.
Cyberpunk 2: What is a realistic release date?
Whatever the news means, the release of Cyberpunk 2 is still a long way off When asked about a possible release date, which has been speculatively set for late 2030 or early 2031, Nowakowski did not disagree. He stated matter-of-factly: “I can repeat what I said in one of the previous conversations, namely that our journey from pre-production to final release takes an average of four to five years.”
However, Nowakowski added that every project has its own peculiarities and that many factors influence the final result. “So I won’t give you specific years, but yes, that’s the general picture,” he summed up to investors.
So we’ll have to be patient until we can return to the street battles of Night City. Beyond the title, concrete details about Cyberpunk 2 are still scarce. However, Mike Pondsmith, the creator of the pen-and-paper template involved in the development, recently let slip an explosive detail.
According to this, Cyberpunk 2 will no longer be set solely in Night City, but will also feature a second city. This could be Chicago.
