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When Cyberpunk 2077 makes its debut next year, it will be a single-player game – this is something that developer CD Projekt Red has made explicitly clear. But what lies beyond that? After all, the studio has mentioned that it has a team tinkering with a multiplayer component.
With CD Projekt bringing back this year’s E3 single-player demo at Gamescom (it was enjoyable to watch it a second time, though not novel), my thoughts shifted to what else the studio is working on – especially following the recent remarks by CD Projekt Red executive Adam Kiciński confirming that 40 people are working on the multiplayer aspect, not to mention the early focus already placed on the next major Cyberpunk game that is slated to follow.
Speaking at Gamescom today, CD Projekt Red senior concept artist Marthe Jonkers informed me that Cyberpunk 2077’s multiplayer is still not a definite. The small team working on it is still in the research and development phase – and there is no pressure to force something that doesn’t feel right.
“We are conducting research and development into multiplayer, but our focus is on the single-player experience, and that’s what you’ll get in 2020,” Jonkers told me. “It doesn’t mean we’re ruling out multiplayer, but it doesn’t mean we’re confirming it either. It’s still in the R&D stage.”
This mention of being in the “R&D” phase is something we’ve heard before – for instance, back at E3 2018 – although some form of multiplayer element for Cyberpunk 2077 has been discussed in vague terms for a much longer time. CD Projekt Red boss Adam Badowski told Eurogamer way back in 2013 that the studio was planning “multiplayer features” for the game. However, what we’ve never heard is what this multiplayer portion might actually entail.
“If you add multiplayer functions, it has to be done right,” Jonkers continued. “Immersion is of utmost importance to us and we must ensure that everything meshes well. The single-player experience is coherent. We’re not just going to randomly insert some [multiplayer] feature and call it a day.
“It’s possible that if it doesn’t fit, then it doesn’t fit. We would never create anything for Cyberpunk that doesn’t meet at least the Witcher standard. I don’t know what the future holds, but we will ensure that everything we produce is of high quality.”
CD Projekt has experienced significant expansion over the past few years, nearly doubling in size to approximately 400 people – which is why the studio has the manpower to experiment. It is also necessary, Jonkers said, for the more complex systems in Cyberpunk that arise from having a much more open-ended character and story.
“The Witcher team was around 200, I’m not sure of the exact number. But now we’re around 400, so we can accomplish a lot more – and that’s what we’re doing with Cyberpunk,” Jonkers concluded. “The Witcher was an open-world game, but now we have an open-world game with an entirely different level of gameplay freedom.
“In The Witcher, you had Geralt and you stuck with this character, his fighting style, his relationships, and his background. With this game, we’re adding in this freedom with your character, allowing you to decide what kind of relationships you want to engage in, a story that branches out in various directions, and multiple endings. It’s a lot more ambitious, but we also have a much larger team.”
