Highlights

  • Cyberpunk 2077 redeemed itself after a rocky launch with numerous patches and The Phantom Liberty DLC.
  • Developer CD Projekt Red has announced a sequel, known as Project Orion, currently in early stages of production.
  • Project Orion has the potential to explore and alter the dynamics of Night City's powerful corporations.

After four years, Cyberpunk 2077 has achieved a redemption worthy of Johnny Silverhand himself. Cyberpunk 2077's launch in 2020 was famously rocky, but after the commotion died down a bit, developer CD Projekt Red focused on addressing the highly anticipated title's shortcomings via a series of ongoing patches and updates. By September 2023, Cyberpunk 2077's 2.0 patch and its substantial DLC, The Phantom Liberty, completed its course correction, with the state of the game as highly polished and feature-robust as was originally intended and promised.

CDPR has already announced plans for a sequel, and the currently codenamed Project Orion is in early stages of production. While that means there is little information to go on thus far about its possible plot and related details, there is one major component of its grime and neon-drenched setting that, depending on how the studio incorporates Cyberpunk 2077's ending variations, could lead to a much different dynamic, specifically regarding the balance of power between its megacorporations.

Support on Cyberpunk 2077 officially ended recently, with team members moving onto the sequel or other upcoming projects like the multiple Witcher titles in development.

Cyberpunk 2077 night city screenshot
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Cyberpunk 2077's Sequel Has a Possible Gold Mine in its Hands

A follow-up to Cyberpunk 2077 could build upon its foundations and one big aspect of the original that has a wealth of possibilities.

Project Orion Could Push Cyberpunk 2077's Corporations to Bolder Places

Cyberpunk 2077's Cutthroat Corporations

Looking at some of the corporations and related entities operating in Night City and beyond:

  • Arasaka Corp.
  • Biotechnica
  • Kang Tao
  • Kiroshi Optics
  • MaxTac
  • Militech
  • NetWatch
  • Night Corp.
  • Orbital Air
  • Petrochem
  • Trauma Team Int'l
  • Zetatech

A subsection of these were heavily incorporated and fleshed out in Cyberpunk 2077, while others were more tangentially present or behind the scenes; only briefly featured in the main campaign, the odd side mission, or in passing as part of the world building. Taken together, though, they form the web of Night City's network of corporate and semi-private organizations, operating under technically legal and sanctioned parameters, with various deals and subsidiaries between them. Of course, true to the tenets and nature of the genre, they are often as bad if not far worse than the criminal gangs, rogue NetRunners, and other similar groups operating in its seedy underbelly.

How Project Orion Can Promote Some of Cyberpunk 2077's Companies

Arasaka and Militech were two of the most major players in Cyberpunk 2077, fittingly so given their in-universe status, history, and part in the Fourth Corporate Wars. But perhaps in the wake of the events of Cyberpunk 2077, some of the other previously overlooked ones that had been waiting for their moment to strike have done so, and risen to prominence to be bigger contenders; subsequently becoming integral to the new narrative. How this all might shake out in the sequel is theoretically heavily dependent upon how Cyberpunk 2077's endings might impact Project Orion's narrative setup and overall vision of the movers and shakers within Night City.

If, for example, Arasaka has somehow been left weakened or destabilized, the other sharks will likely be circling, jockeying for power and making moves to ensure they come out in a dominant position. This situation could easily apply to others, like the Lazarus Group, which functions quite similarly to Militech, and could fill any power vacuums left in that sector. Fans could see a Night City in the sequel that has gone through drastic shifts in terms of the dynamics of its important players. If Project Orion makes any other notable alterations to elements, such as the story being set in a much different timeline or otherwise not as directly connected to the events of the previous plot, then it could see any number of the existing, and even previously unknown, companies brought into the forefront in new and interesting ways.