CD Projekt Still Watching over Cyberpunk 2077. Pawel Sasko Explains Lack of New Game Plus
At some point, Pawel Sasko also doubted whether Cyberpunk 2077 would eventually regain players' trust. He also explained the lack of New Game Plus and assured that a handful of developers are still watching over the game.
CD Projekt RED fans can already look ahead (or have fun with the official modding tool in The Witcher 3), but the devs themselves haven't forgotten the years of development (or rather, fixing) of the studio's latest major game. Pawel Sasko mentioned some doubts regarding the potential to regain players' trust in Cyberpunk 2077 and the absence of a New Game Plus mode.
Small guard of Cyberpunk 2077
We have already heard about some of the issues mentioned by Sasko in the interview for DualShockers, including the current state of work on Cyberpunk 2077. The CD Projekt Group's financial report from the end of May confirmed that the game's development had officially ended and no company employees were working on it anymore.
However, we also know that another update is coming to the game, which will introduce, among others: Support for AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution technology. So it didn't seem like anyone was actually watching over C2077.
Sasko confirmed that Cyberpunk 2077 still has a small team of developers who are keeping an eye on the game. Of course, they aren't working on new content - their responsibility is to make sure that the title operates smoothly.
Difficult times of Cyberpunk 2077
We have also heard many times about the unhappy mood in the CD Projekt RED studio after the - let's face it - terrible reception of Cyberpunk 2077 after its premiere. Sasko has already thanked fans for their patience after the premiere of the game's last major update (and a hacker attack in 2021).
However, in an interview, the dev admitted that at some point he doubted whether the studio would actually be able to regain the players' trust. This happened during the release of patch 1.5, which brought significant (and, importantly, clearly visible) changes to the game and was widely praised by fans.
The problem is that the kind words didn't result in a rise in the popularity of Cyberpunk 2077. Sasko (and probably the rest of the CD Projekt RED team as well) had hoped for a large number of buyers to return to the game. Meanwhile, the increase in the number of players turned out to be very modest (contrary to what Steam statistics suggested), which put the Pole's faith in the possibility of fixing C2077 to a severe test.
Luckily, the team kept working, leading to more extensive updates. These, along with the enthusiastically received Phantom Liberty expansion, finally changed Cyberpunk 2077 enough for even the most stubborn players to give the game a second chance. That's why Sasko considers this game to be the studio's greatest achievement.
New Game Plus in Cyberpunk 2077 doesn't make sense
Of course, complaints can still be found even after the release of version 2.1. One of the reasons is the lack of a certain expected option: New Game Plus mode (NG+). It was confirmed at the end of December that there were no plans to allow players to restart the game with (almost) all the equipment, and this feature won't be included in C2077.
Sasko was also questioned about the absence of this feature, and he justified it with a specific design of Cyberpunk 2077. The dev emphasized that it is very important to make sure that all elements of the game work well as a whole and "make sense."
Implementing a NG+ mode without completely disrupting the gameplay structure would required significant changes. Sasko also noted that Cyberpunk 2077 is designed to encourage multiple playthroughs. Three different development paths, choices, romances - all this makes it possible to return to Night City even without New Game Plus.
It's doubtful that these arguments would convince players dissatisfied with the lack of NG+. Sasko is aware of this, but - as he stated - "that's the whole truth."
The Pole also discusses other topics in the interview: the design and inspirations behind Dogtown (which expanded threefold from the initial sketches to the premiere of Phantom of Liberty) and collaborating with Keanu Reeves (who insisted on a stronger emphasis on Silverhand's presence in the expansion).
