Developer CD Projekt has officially confirmed that the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, known as Cyberpunk 2, is now in pre-production.
The announcement was made as part of the studio's latest financial results, which also highlighted that the Phantom Liberty expansion for Cyberpunk 2077 has reached a notable milestone of 10 million copies sold.
The company added that 96 of its 730 developers are currently assigned to Cyberpunk 2. The majority of the studio's workforce, 422 developers, is focused on The Witcher 4.
This suggests that both Cyberpunk 2 and The Witcher 4 remain far from release. However, we now know the official project name for the sequel, which was previously referred to by its codename, Orion.
While concrete details about Cyberpunk 2 are scarce, Cyberpunk creator Mike Pondsmith recently teased some previously unknown information. At the Digital Dragons 2025 conference, Pondsmith—who collaborated closely with CD Projekt on the 30 million-selling Cyberpunk 2077 and was involved in its pre-launch promotion—was asked about his level of involvement with the Orion project.
In response, Pondsmith acknowledged he is less involved this time but mentioned he reviews scripts and recently visited CD Projekt to see the ongoing development.
“Last week I was walking around, talking to different teams and checking out their work. They'd show me things like, 'Look at this new cyberware, what do you think?' and I'd say, 'Yeah, that's pretty good, it fits well here.' "
He then dropped a hint about the sequel: it will feature a brand new city in addition to the familiar Night City from Cyberpunk 2077. Pondsmith described this new location as “like Chicago gone wrong.”
“I spent considerable time with one of the environment artists. He explained the new setting in Orion—there's another city we visit. I won't reveal more, but yes, there is another city. Night City is still present. Looking at the designs, I understood the atmosphere they're aiming for. It doesn't feel like Blade Runner; it feels more like a dystopian Chicago. I told them, 'Yeah, I can see this working.'”
It's important to note that Pondsmith's comments do not definitively indicate the sequel will be set in a futuristic Chicago, but rather that the new city evokes the feeling of a dystopian version of Chicago. It could be an interpretation of a future Chicago, but this is not confirmed by his remarks.
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There is already discussion about whether Cyberpunk 2 will expand the existing Night City or feature a reimagined version, and to what extent it will be explorable. Many questions remain, but it appears the sequel will likely include at least two detailed, playable urban environments.
This is an incredibly busy period for CD Projekt. Beyond the games, a new Cyberpunk animated project is in development for Netflix, following the well-received Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. In the more immediate future, Cyberpunk 2077 is scheduled to launch on the Nintendo Switch 2 next month.
