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Last year, it was revealed that CD Projekt Red is already looking forward to the next Cyberpunk 2077 game. This came as a surprise to many, with the developers putting a lot of effort into continued updates for the game, leading many to believe that we'd also get a bunch of DLC expansions - especially since this was promised before launch. However, as we now know, Phantom Liberty will be the only expansion.
Yet players aren't necessarily disappointed with this news. Over on Reddit, fans are debating the current state of the game, and whether or not it was right for CDPR to ditch 2077 without more expansions. Surprisingly, many are now reacting positively to the news, feeling that the devs have done all they can with Cyberpunk 2077 as it is.
"Anybody else thinks it would be better to focus on improving the current game rather than making a new one?" asks Reddit user _zero_200. As it happens, many are actually looking forward to seeing what the series has to offer beyond Cyberpunk 2077.
"REDengine is old now, we have the really long development time of 2077 to thank for that," says FIlthyMcGuffin. "This needed to be done, no matter how much of a shame it might be."
Many agree with this sentiment, especially as we now know that CDPR is ditching the REDengine in favour of Unreal. "A lot of Cyberpunk 2077's problems [are] related to the REDengine," says tiker442. "Creating a new game in UE5 is the better option."
"With what they've learned from the original and with the fixes that they now have implemented, it's honestly better for them to do a take 2," says Cthulhubot666. "And hopefully the execs learned to not broadcast every idea that pops up and don't reveal a major NPC dies in the very beginning."
This refers to the fact that one of the trailers that ignited the Cyberpunk 2077 hype in the first place made the utterly bizarre decision to spoil the death of Jackie after the game's first act. Considering this happens several hours into the story, and is presented as an emotional plot twist, many were frustrated that promotional material spoilt this so long before launch. Of course, that's not to even get into the issues of promotional material boasting features that didn't make it into the game at launch, such as parkour, multiple apartments, and V's Megabuilding home being vast and full of life.
Despite all of this, the Cyberpunk 2077 community seems content to leave the game behind after Phantom Liberty. It's rare to see a fanbase so accepting of a broken pledge, so with any luck, the final DLC will be worth the leeway it's granting the higher-ups at CDPR. Perhaps fittingly, in another disappointing blow, anyone who wants to experience this expansion will have to pick the game up on either PC, PS5 or Xbox Series X/S, as last gen is being left behind too.