Cyberpunk 2077's Don't Fear the Reaper ending is the game's most difficult to achieve, and what many consider its true conclusion, whose fallout from the decisions made by V has far-reaching implications on Night City's future. If Project Orion becomes a true chronological sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, its cast and setting will be shaped by Don't Fear the Reaper's outcomes.

While not up next on CD Projekt Red's slate of games, the development of a follow-up to Cyberpunk 2077 was confirmed by the studio in late 2022, with its core team having begun the game's early design stages after the launch of Phantom Liberty. Official details for Project Orion will likely remain undisclosed until one or more of the new The Witcher projects have shipped, leaving fans with years of speculating until more concrete information is available. Presently, the only source for guessing what the game will entail is the foundation Cyberpunk 2077 laid, along with the rich and complex lore of its underlying IP.

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V's Long Journey Could Just Be the Beginning

One of the biggest unanswered questions is what role V will have in Project Orion, if any. Don't Fear the Reaper pits players with an impossible choice, resulting in an altered version of the New Dawn Fades ending or the Path of Glory ending. The former gives Johnny Silverhand a second chance at life, now the sole host of V's body, while V's digitized consciousness embarks beyond the Blackwall, into deep Cyberspace. The latter has V remaining in their body, doomed as it may be, to live the rest of their rapidly expiring life as the Night City legend they fought so hard to become.

This presents an opportunity for CD Projekt to do something different for Project Orion. Whereas Cyberpunk 2077 gave players the agency to choose between three different character histories, Project Orion could offer players a choice in Night City's history. Depending on the specific outcome chosen during Don't Fear the Reaper, the game could start with the news of V's death, its first story beats centering around attending their wake at the Afterlife, or taking one of the game's first gigs from the Johnny Silverhand-inhabited body of V.

The Devil You Know and the Edgerunner You Don't

Those scenarios presume that Cyberpunk 2077's lead will not reprise their role for the sequel. With V's journey reaching a satisfying if not bittersweet end, it may be that for the character to continue, it would serve the overarching story more in the periphery. CD Projekt Red may have other plans, maybe looking to set up a trilogy focused on V akin to Geralt in The Witcher. The studio could develop endearing MacGuffins to solve V's deadly affliction and lack of character motivations as a legend of Night City.

The enigmatic Mr. Blue Eyes could potentially be the catalyst for V's cure and fall from grace, double-crossing them after the Crystal Palace heist, but not before setting V up with the same procedure explored with Songbird in Phantom Liberty.

Untangling Its Many Loose Threads

None of that is to mention how dramatically the corporate landscape of Night City will shift. With such a devastating blow dealt to Arasaka, a question arises of whether the other monolithic companies will fill the power vacuum.

There is a plethora of evolving plotlines at the outset of Cyberpunk 2077 begging to be unwound, from the NUSA political dilemma in the wake of Phantom Liberty to a changing of the guard in Night City's underworld, with V as a living legend opening the door to a new generation of Edgerunners. Project Orion has so much untapped potential to expand upon what is already one of the most fleshed-out and immersive game worlds and the franchise is in capable hands with CD Projekt Red at the helm.