Cyberpunk 2077 Sequel to Be Led by Phantom Liberty Director

Game ZXC

Cyberpunk 2077

By Rory Young

Published Jun 14, 2023

Cyberpunk 2077 DLC Phantom Liberty lead Gabe Amatangelo reportedly confirmed that he will be continuing on to direct CD Projekt Red's planned Cyberpunk 2077 sequel. While Cyberpunk 2077 has had its share of issues since it launched in 2020, CD Projekt Red appears to be now be confident in the direction of the series. Phantom Liberty will be the start of a new direction for Cyberpunk 2077, with Amatangelo carrying that momentum into Cyberpunk 2077 2.

Cyberpunk 2077 had a tumultuous development cycle that ultimately led to multiple key members of the team leaving CD Projekt Red entirely. That includes both Mateusz Kanik, Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, and Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz, who each played key directorial roles in Cyberpunk 2077's development. Even Cyberpunk 2077's game director through launch ultimately stepped down from continued support of the project, as Adam Badowski instead became CD Projekt Red's Studio Head. Gabe Amatangelo took on Cyberpunk 2077's continued direction in 2021, just a year after being hired by CD Projekt Red.

Now Amatangelo is firmly entrenched as the director of Cyberpunk 2077's future at CD Projekt Red. Speaking with Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, Amatangelo now says that he will be directing the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, which was announced in October 2022. All that's been said about the sequel is that its codename is Project Orion and CD Projekt Red will be building it on Unreal Engine 5. Needless to say, the sequel will require a tremendous amount of work and is years away from being properly revealed.

As for how Amatangelo became the lead of Cyberpunk 2077's future at CD Projekt Red, it starts at the game's state of development in 2020. Amatangelo is an industry veteran, spending 10 years at EA between Mythic Entertainment and BioWare, followed by 4 years as QC Games as game director and co-founder. In 2020, when Cyberpunk 2077 development was floundering, Amatangelo was brought on as creative director to help the team refocus. He'd shown the experience necessary to become Cyberpunk 2077's new game director when Badowski stepped down in 2021.

Phantom Liberty's development since Amatangelo took over appears to have proven the new game director's worth in the years since. The DLC launches in September and will overhaul Cyberpunk 2077 entirely. It's taken over three years, but fans are excited about Cyberpunk 2077 again. Phantom Liberty isn't even out and no reviews have been written, but CD Projekt Red appears confident in Amatangelo's work.

Amatangelo appears to be very happy with the situation, too. He notes to Bloomberg that CD Projekt's board gave the team all the time and resources it needed to "make it right." That doesn't only mean making Cyberpunk 2077 a better game, though. Amatangelo says he's worked to improve CD Projekt Red's culture, too. He says Phantom Liberty has been developed without crunch, and that developers now have a "very healthy work-life balance." The sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 will hopefully maintain that throughout its development.