The multiplayer offshoot of Cyberpunk 2077 has been discontinued. Originally it should be submitted later as a multiplayer part with microtransactions. Nothing came of it after the unfinished release of the role-playing game, as all resources were put into “the important part”.
At the start of sales, Cyberpunk 2077 had bugs and an unfinished world battle. The frame rates were far from great, too: the game was even withdrawn from sale on the PlayStation 4. The long list of shortcomings in 2020 was the death sentence for the multiplayer mode, the developers now explain in an interview with Eurogamer.
You had to look “where the priorities for cyberpunk lie,” developer CD Projekt Red told the website. In the end, it was because the game was going well and “R&D projects” had to give way – including the multiplayer component that was repeatedly mentioned. The developers also admit that the studio had taken over: “We wanted too many things at once,” explained Philipp Weber, who is currently developing the story of the next Witcher game, the side.
In the end, the single player part was identified as a really important part of Cyberpunk 2077. Adam Kiciński announced last year that CD Projekt Red's DNA is the development of single-player, story-focused RPGs. According to the company's CEO at the time, online skills should be built in gradually and only when they make sense – step by step and with a sense of proportion, rather than building a large online world. Basically, the company is moving “back to the roots”.
Product strategy proves statements
The fact that CD Projekt is serious about this is proven by the product strategy. The single-player expansion Phantom Liberty for Cyberpunk 2077 was announced, which will be released next year. At the same time, The Witcher 3 will receive a next-gen update that will include DLSS, ray tracing and sleeker textures, among other things, and will breathe new life into the title on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S|X. In addition, the first Witcher will be reissued and a Witcher 4 will be developed with a new protagonist. There is no mention of multiplayer anywhere.