CD Projekt has committed a quarter of its dev staff to Cyberpunk’s first expansion
“We strongly believe in the long-term potential of this IP”
Nearly a quarter of CD Projekt’s development staff (160 people) are now working on Cyberpunk 2077’s first expansion, the company claimed on Wednesday.
The breakdown was shared during The Witcher developer’s H1 2021 earnings call, listened to by VGC, in which it was hesitant to share any core details on its expansion plans beyond acknowledging that a chunk of its staff was now focused on it.
In comparison, just over a third of the company is working on Cyberpunk 2077’s new-gen console version, as well as support for the original game. Its remaining development staff are working on Gwent and unannounced triple-A projects, it said.
“The next-gen version is an important step on our adventure in the Cyberpunk universe,” said joint CEO Adam Kiciński. “We strongly believe in the long-term potential of this IP. That’s why we’re currently working on the first expansion for the game, although I cannot say anything for more about it at this point in time.”
He added: “In accordance with our promise to gamers, we intend to keep improving Cyberpunk for as long as it takes. Meanwhile, we do not lose sight of the bigger picture: we want to develop other products based on our franchises and to keep growing our core business.
“Right now, 160 people are working on the first expansion for Cyberpunk, while nearly 70 more are involved in unannounced projects.”
Later in the call, the company was pressed for more info on Cyberpunk’s first expansion, but its SVP of business development Michał Nowakowski claimed it was “way too early” to share specifics on pricing or release schedule.
“Regarding the expansion, It’s in development but we’re not providing any specifics about the date… we would like to keep up the rule that we’re not commenting on the date until we’re ready to deliver that,” he said.
“Regarding the price… historically expansions have been paid as with The Witcher [3]. However, it’s definitely way too early to talk about price, since we’re not even giving the date.”
During the same call, CD Projekt said it can’t guarantee that Cyberpunk 2077’s new-gen console versions will make it out this year as planned, though it’s still targeting a late 2021 release.
Cyberpunk’s post-launch plans were significantly altered following its troubled release, but the game finally received its first piece of DLC last month alongside its biggest patch yet.
further reading
Recently, a datamine of the game’s latest patch suggested that CD Projekt Red is still planning to release Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer features and at least two game expansions.
At least two expansions are now listed in Cyberpunk 2077’s files, it’s claimed, and build states for “multiplayer gyms” and various tests. There’s also reference to “old” multiplayer modes, which could be pointing to the original plans for a Cyberpunk online game.
As part of a wide-ranging CD Projekt strategy update published in March, president and joint CEO Adam Kiciński announced that the company had “reconsidered” plans for a standalone Cyberpunk online game.
