CD Projekt Red has "decided to reconsider" Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer direction

CD Projekt Red has "decided to reconsider" its plan to move wholesale onto Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer development as its next main project, leaving the shape and scope of the online mode unclear. 

"Previously, we hinted that our next AAA would be a multiplayer Cyberpunk game, but we have decided to reconsider this plan," CDPR CEO Adam Kiciński says in a new video. "Given our new, more systematic and agile approach, instead of primarily focusing on one big online experience or game, we are focusing on bringing online into all of our franchises one day."

Kiciński also assured fans that "CD Projekt Red makes single-player, story-driven, AAA RPGs. That is not changing. What is changing is our long-term approach to online. And by this, we mean ensuring we are properly prepared to implement online elements in our games where they make sense. We don't want to go overboard or lose our single-player DNA. We want to take thoughtful steps to build robust online capabilities."

For several months now, CDPR and Kiciński have discussed Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer as a standalone product, and a big one at that. It wasn't going to be a mere multiplayer mode added to the base game through DLC, but a full-fat online experience that would sit alongside it. A release date for the multiplayer mode was never set, but 2022 was always the most optimistic estimate. 

With the studio now reconsidering the direction of Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer, there's no telling when we'll see it or how it will play. The studio seems to be more interested in building the groundwork for universal online options rather than pouring everything into one specific online mode. 

"We are building an online technology that can be seamlessly integrated into the development of our future games," Kiciński adds. "This technology will power the online components we choose to introduce in our games, and will ensure we can do so without any great technological debt. With this technology in place, we can start to grow an online community powered by our own GOG Galaxy platform, which connects gamers both inside and outside of our games."

This news comes on the heels of the studio's new plan to simultaneously develop two AAA IP in 2022 and beyond, with The Witcher 4 being an unannounced but heavily teased parallel to Cyberpunk.

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