The reason Cyberpunk 2077’s multiplayer spinoff didn’t happen is kind of obvious
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Years ago, Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt RED announced that it was making a multiplayer game set in the same sci-fi world. The RPG was released two years ago, but there’s still no sign of the multiplayer spin-off, the developer has finally explained why, and the reason is pretty obvious when you hear it.
“The priority was that the main experience for the people will be in a really good shape,” Cyberpunk 2077 campaign manager Phipp Weber told Eurogamer (opens in new tab). “We wanted to do a lot of things at once, and we really had to focus and say, ‘Okay, what’s the most important thing?'”
The developer turned its attention to creating patches and updates for Cyberpunk 2077 and put multiplayer on the back burner. Like way back on the back burner.
Enough on their plate
When Cyberpunk 2077 was released in late 2020, people got talking for all the wrong reasons. CD Projekt RED was riddled with bugs and so busy correcting the obvious problems in their existing game that any thought of a multiplayer mode was pushed back. The construction cost of the buggy launch dear to themwith company stocks plummeting soon after.
Glitches like the infinite money hack are still being dropped from the game, so it wasn’t surprising when Weber noted that the “shift in priorities meant other R&D projects had to disappear.”
That delay, as we found out last year, turned into a full cancellation.
At the time, CEO Adam Kiciński clarified the company’s position on entering the multiplayer scene. “Let’s emphasize this here: CD Projekt RED is making story-driven single-player AAA RPGs – that’s not changing. What changes is our long-term approach to online.”
This was reflected in CD Projekt RED’s announcement that only one of the five upcoming Witcher games has been confirmed to contain multiplayer elements. Kiciński also said, “Rather than focusing primarily on one big online experience – or game – we are focusing on bringing all of our franchises online one day. [implementing] online elements in our games where they make sense.”
We are still patiently waiting for that highly anticipated Cyberpunk DLCso even if we get to explore Night City one day with our friends in tow, you can expect it won’t happen any time soon.