The first gameplay details about the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel have leaked online, courtesy of some recently publicized job openings from CD Projekt Red. The very existence of the newly surfaced listings signals that the pre-production phase of the Cyberpunk 2077 follow-up is now ramping up.

CDPR officially announced the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, code-named Orion, in October 2022. Much like the first game, project Orion was confirmed before it even started pre-production, with the idea being that the studio would have an easier time finding talent to work on a game whose existence is public knowledge.

The recently opened CDPR North America studio in Boston and its Vancouver-based sister branch have now started advertising a variety of positions related to the project. The 18 openings that appeared on the developer's website on February 6 reiterate that the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel will be powered by Unreal Engine 5, but also reveal a select few gameplay details about the upcoming title.

New deets on Cyberpunk sequel
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Specifically, an ad for the lead systems designer on the project indicates that the game will feature crafting, while two other listings suggest that CDPR is planning to once again do its storytelling through a combination of scripted gameplay events and cutscenes. Even the most on-the-rails cutscenes in Cyberpunk 2077 didn't completely take control away from the player, save for a few late-game exceptions, one of which was introduced in Phantom Liberty. Several mentions of Orion cutscenes imply the character animations will be partially motion-captured, which was the case with the previous game as well.

Cyberpunk 2077 Sequel Features

crafting system
open-world events

Open-world events will also be making a return in the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, the listings reveal. While the descriptions of the openings contain some additional details, the remaining information merely confirms even more obvious additions like an interactive dialogue system, the ability to discover and read documents throughout the game's world, and RPG elements. CDPR previously said that the second Cyberpunk game will aim for a Witcher-like evolution, in the sense that it will focus on improving the parts of its predecessor that didn't work well out of the box while keeping its well-received elements largely intact.

Given how many of the newly publicized job openings advertise a variety of senior positions, it stands to reason that the project is still in its infancy. Between that and the fact that AAA development cycles continue to get longer, the wait for the project Orion may be even longer than the one for Cyberpunk 2077, which was announced nearly eight years before finally hitting the market.

Posted: Feb 11, 2024 11:59 pm
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://gamerant.com/cyberpunk-2077-sequel-project-orion-gameplay-details-leak/