The tumultuous launch of CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 will live in gamers' memories for a long time, but the developer is hoping to make up for its mistakes with the eventual release of Project Orion. CD Projekt Red has a lot of irons in the fire at the moment with the next Witcher saga also in development, but the upcoming sequel for Cyberpunk 2077—which at the moment has nothing but a codename—already has a lot riding on it. While details are scarce, there are some things fans hope to see in the next installment of the Cyberpunk series.
Although it hasn't been released just yet, Cyberpunk 2077's one and only major DLC is already looking like it could give gamers the version of the game that they were hoping for in the first place. After a few years of extensive updates and revisions, Cyberpunk 2077 is undoubtedly in a much better place, but Project Orion is going to have to deliver something exceptional if it wants to remove the sour taste for players after the first game's disastrous launch. One way to do this would be to really shake things up and go for a completely different approach, like a focus on multiplayer.
Cyberpunk 2077's Scrapped Multiplayer
From the very first glimpse of Cyberpunk 2077, gamers knew it was going to be an incredibly ambitious game. It was unsurprising that the development took such a long time, but when more substantial trailers and looks behind the scenes were revealed closer to the game's release, Cyberpunk 2077 looked almost looking too good to be true.
Unfortunately, with delays, controversies, and a significantly stripped-back offering at launch, this proved to be true, and fans were left disappointed. Cut content included additional legends alongside Johnny Silverhand that players could choose as childhood heroes, more in-depth hacking and netrunning features, NPCs with more autonomy, and multiplayer.
While Cyberpunk 2077 was still in development, CD Projekt Red promised that a multiplayer mode would be added to the highly anticipated game sometime after launch. Fans were excited about the chance to test their augmented V against another player's in encounters that could combine Cyberpunk 2077's hacking, driving, and fast-paced combat. However, the developer eventually decided that due to the attention required to improve the base game's single-player, multiplayer would need to be scrapped. Thankfully, Project Orion presents a brand-new opportunity to bring multiplayer back in a big way.
Why Project Orion Should Be Multiplayer
Towards the end of 2022, CD Projekt Red announced that it would be making a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, codenamed Project Orion. The reaction to the news was mixed among the fanbase, with some wanting the developer to focus on the first game before jumping into a follow-up, and others excited to see how CD Projekt Red could redeem itself.
Aiming to "take the Cyberpunk franchise further and continue harnessing the potential of this dark future universe", Project Orion could provide a singular sci-fi experience, and multiplayer might be a way to further expand the IP in exciting ways. Thanks to a 2022 developer presentation, players know that CD Projekt Red wants to bring multiplayer features to most of its new single-player games, so it seems likely it could come to the Cyberpunk series. With the chance to focus Project Orion on multiplayer from the ground up, it could be integrated in a smart, cohesive way rather than as a post-launch add-on.
While there's still a healthy appetite among gamers for single-player AAA experiences, most modern games are looking to incorporate multiplayer and online elements to allow for greater community engagement. With a world as vibrant and varied as Cyberpunk's, adding multiplayer could definitely enhance the in-game experience as well. Including real-life players into the fabric of the game alongside more complex NPCs would also create a level of challenge and engagement that's hard to accomplish in a single-player title, and could make Cyberpunk's setting even more memorable.
Cyberpunk 2077's sequel, code-named Project Orion, is in development.
