'It's Like Saying We Should Spend More Time on Tatooine With Farmer Luke' — Cyberpunk 2 Creative Director Says Extending 2077's Act 1 Wouldn't Have Made the Game Better

Ever since Cyberpunk 2077 came retired successful 2020, fans person debated Act 1, which sees V befriend Jackie Welles and effort to marque it large successful Night City earlier the infamous heist ngo goes horribly wrong. Some consciousness the crippled would person been amended had Act 1 been extended and fixed players much clip with the much-loved — but short-lived — companion character. But what does the originative manager of Cyberpunk 2 think?

Taking to societal media, CD Projekt's Igor Sarzynski said extending Act 1 earlier the heist wouldn’t person made Cyberpunk 2077 a amended game, and helium utilized Star Wars to backmost up his point: “it's similar saying we should walk much clip connected Tatooine with husbandman Luke earlier helium got progressive with each this Jedi stuff.”

Then: “the information / extremity successful this conception of the crippled is beauteous vague — 'get to the top' — which, prolonged and without stakes oregon unit would effect successful meandering, unfocused experience.”

Act 2 picks up aft the shocking events of Act 1 and Jackie’s untimely death, with V hopeless to find a cure for the Relic successful their head. Part of the communicative involves V grieving for Jackie and helping different characters woody with his decease successful their ain ways.

Some Cyberpunk 2077 players, determined to walk arsenic overmuch clip arsenic imaginable with Jackie earlier the inevitable happens, absorption connected Watson, the Act 1 playable area, and small other — thing Sarzynski acknowledged successful his posts. “It's an unfastened satellite game, immoderate negociate to compression 20 hours retired of Watson,” helium said. “Pick your ain pace.”

But Sarzynski acknowledged the ongoing statement astir however overmuch clip players get to walk with Jackie. “Is it capable clip to enslaved with Jackie?” helium asked. “For immoderate it is, for immoderate it isn't. All things considered I deliberation we struck a bully balance.”

And finally, “No, half-year montage is not chopped content. We ever planned it similar this. But much connected 'cut content' conception successful immoderate different post.”

Sarzynski has moved connected to Cyberpunk 2, and there’s nary denotation that thing he’s said present connected Jackie has a bearing connected what to expect from the hotly-anticipated sequel. Cyberpunk creator Mike Pondsmith has been chatty astir it, however. In May past year, Pondsmith teased immoderate antecedently chartless details erstwhile helium was asked astir the scope of his engagement with Cyberpunk 2 (then known arsenic Project Orion) astatine the Digital Dragons 2025 conference.

Pondsmith admitted helium wasn’t arsenic progressive this clip around, but said helium does reappraisal scripts and had been to CD Projekt to cheque retired the ongoing work. “Last week I was wandering astir talking to antithetic departments, and seeing what they had, ‘Oh look, this is the caller cyberware, what bash you think?’ ‘Oh yeah, that’s beauteous good, that works here,’” helium said astatine the time.

And then, the morsel connected the sequel: that it features a marque caller metropolis successful summation to the Night City we cognize from Cyberpunk 2077. Pondsmith described this caller metropolis arsenic “like Chicago gone wrong.”

“I spent a batch of clip talking to 1 of the situation guys, and helium was explaining however the caller spot successful Orion, due to the fact that there’s different metropolis we sojourn — I’m not telling you immoderate much than that but there’s different metropolis we visit. And Night City is inactive there. But I retrieve looking astatine it and going, yea I recognize the consciousness you’re going for this, and this truly does work. And it doesn’t consciousness similar Blade Runner, it feels much similar Chicago gone wrong. I said, ‘Yeah, I tin spot this working.'”

It’s worthy pointing retired that Pondsmith’s comments bash not needfully suggest the Cyberpunk sequel volition diagnostic a aboriginal Chicago, alternatively a metropolis that has the consciousness of a dystopian mentation of the city. It whitethorn good beryllium a instrumentality connected aboriginal Chicago, but that isn’t confirmed based connected these comments. There is besides immoderate statement astir whether Cyberpunk 2 volition grow upon the Night City that’s successful Cyberpunk 2077 oregon diagnostic a caller version, and the grade to which it is playable.

It sounds similar we'll person to hold immoderate clip to find out. CD Projekt is of people focusing connected The Witcher 4, and CD Projekt co-CEO Michał Nowakowski has suggested Cyberpunk 2 won’t beryllium retired until astatine slightest 2030.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].