With, perhaps, less competition than in previous years, Cyberpunk 2077 has once again stolen the show at E3 2019. Stamping its presence on the event with the reveal of both Keanu Reeves and a solid release date during Microsoft’s Xbox press conference last weekend, CD Projekt’s role-player impressed again during its second hands-off gameplay demo – even if it did feel much more like a video game and less like magic this time around.
CD Projekt Red still has some 10 months to release, but with word of its launch date comes our curiosity for what will be in the game at when it arrives. This time last year, CD Projekt Red told Eurogamer it had a multiplayer mode in R&D. What’s happening with that? Has the studio got a handle on its crunch? And does a launch early next year, before the arrival of next-gen consoles for Christmas 2020, suggest ports in the future?
I sat down for an extended chat with Cyberpunk 2077’s lead quest designer Paweł Sasko to discuss all the above and much more below. Oh, and if you’re after even more on the game, I yesterday sat down with the artist behind the game’s poster which has sparked so much attention.
What role does Keanu Reeves’ Johnny Silverhand character play in the game?
Sasko: It’s such an important role, he’s in the game from almost the beginning to the very, very end. He’s one of the core arcs of the story.
If you look at the CGI trailer – which is an actual quest in the game, though in first-person – V does a deal to get this chip and it looks a fairly simple job but there’s way more layers below. It turns out there’s some connection between Johnny Silverhand and this chip. Now, in Cyberpunk 2020, Johnny died. He was blasted, killed by Adam Smasher. But now he’s back as this digital ghost. And I don’t want to tell you more because it will spoil the story!
One of the reasons a release next April feels surprisingly soon is it rules out a simultaneous launch on next-gen consoles – will that come later?
Sasko: Right now we’re focusing on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One but obviously in the future we’d probably like to have Cyberpunk 2077 on the next platforms. But that’s really a matter for the future, to be honest. Right now we’re focusing on these.