CD Projekt Red has bigger plans for Cyberpunk 2077 past its Phantom Liberty Expansion, revealing that a full sequel is planned for the game, codenamed “Project Orion.”
CD Projekt Red revealed through an investors presentation that revealed the company's future and ongoing projects, which turns out to include a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, codenamed “Project Orion.” CDPR promises that this new title will “prove the full power and potential of the Cyberpunk universe,” but stopped short of revealing any more relevant information.
Project Orion has also been revealed to be developed by CD Projekt North America, a studio that is currently being established by CDPR. The North America holding will consist of studios out of Vancouver, Canada, and Boston, USA, the latter of which will be the ones to work directly on this project.
This announcement follows the recent release of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, a critically-acclaimed animated series that received a lot of fanfare from fans. The animated series renewed interest in the game, allowing Cyberpunk 2077 to register over a million concurrent players again on Steam. The release of the animated series also came alongside a free game update which, among other improvements, introduced playable arcade cabinets in-game.
CD Projekt Red didn't give fans or the investors any indication on when to expect the game to come out. Given that the Cyberpunk 2077 expansion Phantom Liberty isn't coming out until 2023, and the fact that CD Projekt North America is still in the process of being established, chances are we won't be seeing Project Orion turn into Cyberpunk 2077 2 sequel until about 2024 or 2025.
The fact that Cyberpunk 2077 was able to persevere and eventually receive an expansion, and later on, a sequel, shows how developers can turn around disastrous launches. Back when it first came out in December 2020, the game received notoriety for the countless bugs and issues that plagued the game, turning its release more of a spectacle of failures. Further updates to the game and dedication from CD Projekt Red to see things through until they achieved their vision for the game allowed Cyberpunk 2077 to eventually recover and clean its name.