CDPR Never Wanted To Continue V’s Story With A Cyberpunk 2077 Expansion

After a terrible launch staining CD Projekt’s Red RPG expertise, Cyberpunk 2077 is finally out of the depths of post-launch hell, redeeming itself as one utterly fine game in 2023. Following the release of Phantom Liberty — the title’s one and only DLC expansion — the developer studio’s Narrative Director Igor Sarzyński has revealed what CDPR thought (and what it didn’t) regarding possible ways to approach the DLC’s story. 

Sitting down in an interview with PC Gamer, the dev expands on the basis of what CD Projekt Red worked with when it finally came to pen down Phantom Liberty’s plotline. For starters, it was important for the studio to consider all the possible endings of the base game, since those would go on to precede V’s story continuation in the DLC. 

Only problem is, there are multiple ways that Cyberpunk 2077 can end, depending on the choices you make as the protagonist. Making one of them canon—as in resuming V’s story with in the would-be expansion—and ignoring the others would spark a sense of disingenuity toward the players. Highlighting this, Igor said, 

The endings are too diverse to have a single post-main story thread make sense for them all⁠—and you don’t want to pick one and invalidate other people’s choices. We did consider a couple of other scenarios, but none of them were a continuation of the main game story.”

Then, there’s the developer’s focus that comes into light here, what CD Projekt Red truly wanted gamers to experience as they saw Cyberpunk 2077’s campaign coming to its conclusion. If I’ve learned anything from watching Edgerunners, it’s apparent how this studio does not let people off that easy. Perhaps that is the reason why you keep thinking about the story days after. Explaining the notion, Igor iterated,  

The endings are written as we wanted them⁠—leaving players with an uneasy feeling, forcing them to think, not providing straight answers. They stick with you. No need to water them down. Sometimes less is more.” 

Can’t help but agree with that, considering how the mainline plot of Cyberpunk 2077 has been done extremely well. Thanks to Update 2.0 and subsequent patches that have transformed the entire state of the RPG, the first-person shooter at hand is a venture worth getting into. I gave it a go sometime back, and have been hooked to the newfound experience ever since. 

Cyberpunk 2077 was first released in December 2020 for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, followed by a next-gen upgrade in 2022. The RPG’s DLC expansion Phantom Liberty came out on September 26, 2023, thanks to the release date trailer that popped up during the Xbox Games Showcase. In eXputer’s review, Usama rated the DLC 4.5/5, saying that CDPR has finally deliver.