CD Projekt Red announced the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 last October. Codenamed Project Orion, the game was still in preproduction, and there's no indication that it's moved on to full development since then. CD Projekt Red has yet to confirm any specific details about the game, though development is moving to a new studio that the company is setting up in Boston. However, the team contains many developers who worked on Cyberpunk 2077, and the new studio will work alongside existing locations in Canada and Poland.
One of the big questions surrounding the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 sequel is where it takes place. The franchise has traditionally taken place in the metropolis of Night City, an independent city-state on the coast of Northern California. It's the backdrop for the Cyberpunk tabletop games and the primary setting of Cyberpunk 2077 and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. However, the new video game has an opportunity to branch out and explore other parts of the Cyberpunk universe.
Cyberpunk 2077's Sequel Has Plenty of Settings to Choose From
Cyberpunk 2077 belongs to the subcategory of science fiction that could be referred to as an "alternate future," taking place in a universe that deviated from reality before the present day. Cyberpunk 2077's alternate timeline technically stretches back to the 19th century. However, the parallel universe really starts to deviate with the CIA, NSC, FBI, and DEA establishing a shadow government in 1989 and the USSR surviving past the end of the Cold War. While the series has always focused on Night City, plenty is going on in the rest of Cyberpunk 2077's world, and there is no shortage of new locations to explore.
For example, a significant element of Lucy's character in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is her dream to travel to Earth's Moon. This goal is much more achievable in Cyberpunk's universe than in the real one, with the first lunar colony established in 1997. Earth's natural satellite is home to two cities, Tycho and Copernicus, alongside several smaller bases. Primarily a mining colony, the European Space Agency and its member states administer the Moon's human settlements.
The prologue for Cyberpunk 2077's Corpo Life Path has the megacorporation Arasaka launch a deadly cyber-attack to prevent the ESA's council from revoking the corporation's license to operate on the Moon. However, this only delays the vote, and tensions between Arasaka and the ESA are never resolved in the game. This conflict could serve as fertile ground for the plot of a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel set on the Moon.
That's not to say that the next Cyberpunk game needs to travel to space if it wants to find a new location to explore, and one option might be the city of Chicago. The city was almost entirely depopulated during the Collapse of the old United States but has since prospered thanks to the presence of cybernetic manufacturers Storm Technologies and Cytech. Many of Cyberpunk 2077's Nomads also call Chicago home and have a long-standing mutually-beneficial arrangement with Storm Technologies. The symbiosis between high-tech firms and pseudo-tribal Nomad communities gives Cyberpunk's Chicago a unique character that CDPR could expand upon in Cyberpunk 2077's sequel.
Another option could be for CDPR to set the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel somewhere in Japan. Home of the Arasaka Corporation, Japan is the wealthiest country in Cyberpunk's version of Asia and a major world power. However, despite the country's affluence and stability, Japan still has regions outside government control, and the Yakuza remains influential. Cyberpunk 2077's Japan is also home to many refugees from North and South America. Furthermore, Japan already has a strong association with the cyberpunk genre thanks to films like Akira and Ghost in the Shell, so the island nation seems like a natural choice for a Cyberpunk game.
Europe and the rest of Asia also have a lot going on in the Cyberpunk world. Of course, not every location has as much established lore as Night City, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The point is that while CDPR could probably find new stories to tell in Night City, the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 gives developers a fantastic opportunity to branch out into the rest of the setting.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.