CD Projekt RED has denied reports that it has not yet begun working on their next game, Cyberpunk 2077, in earnest.
Most of the studio began working on the game when The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was released but some claimed that a major dev tool overhaul was needed before work could properly begin.
Visual effects artist Jose Texiera, who was quoted for the articles on Cyberpunk’s status, denied that this was the case.
“I mentioned that we were upgrading the engine based on the feedback everybody gave from The Witcher 3,” Texiera told Kotaku. “We’re upgrading the engine. It’s a pretty thorough upgrade. Almost every aspect of the engine is getting upgraded. My particle effects editor is getting upgraded, as is almost every other tool.”
“But the article that was written online was worded in a slightly click-bait-y type way that made it sound like we haven’t even started really working on Cyberpunk yet,” he continued. “I didn’t say that. We’re just upgrading the tools. That’s all I said. That’s something that any company that uses custom software has to do from time-to-time. That’s all.”
The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 both use versions of CD Projekt RED’s proprietary REDengine, which was designed to be tailored to their needs on each game. Dev tool upgrades happen frequently and may not impact progress. Lessons learned from Witcher DLC and Cyberpunk is currently being incorporated into the engine’s capabilities.
“The engine team took all the feedback, and they’re upgrading it,” Texiera added. “The hope is that it’ll allow us to do a lot more with the same engine. A lot more and faster. It’s still very much an ongoing process, but it’s promising stuff.”
Very little has been announced about Cyberpunk 2017 but we do know it won’t be released anytime soon.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s second expansion, Blood and Wine, launches on May 31st.
