More than five years after the launch of Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red is still reflecting on what went wrong. Although the company has recovered — with over 35 million copies sold — the game’s troubled release remains a defining moment for the Polish developer. It triggered a long, complex process of learning and transformation.
Paweł Sasko, the lead quest designer and now associate game director on Project Orion (also known as Cyberpunk 2), explained that one of the key lessons learned was the need for greater focus and creative discipline. According to Sasko, Cyberpunk 2077 is at its best when its gameplay, storytelling, and themes work together in harmony, rather than competing for the player’s attention or clashing with each other.
Weakness and Strength
Sasko also admitted that the team could have handled some aspects of the game’s narrative dissonance more effectively. After V receives the Relic implant, they begin to see Johnny Silverhand (played by Keanu Reeves), while simultaneously their own life force weakens as their body deteriorates. This concept clashes with the traditional RPG progression, where a character typically becomes stronger over time.
“V is dying, vomiting blood, and coughing,” Sasko explained (thanks GamingBolt). “But role-playing game progression makes them more powerful with every finished quest. We used this to strengthen the narrative and feeling of loss, as every step V takes brings the inevitability of terminal illness closer, no matter how powerful you feel. We used that tension as well as we could, but could have focused on it earlier.”
From a technical standpoint, the team learned how essential it is to build on a stable and scalable foundation. Many of the current improvements were only possible because of a complete rewrite of the game’s core systems. Sometimes, it’s better to rebuild everything rather than apply quick fixes. For CD Projekt Red, this was proof that ambition must always be balanced with technical limits.
Above all, the most important lesson was the need for stronger internal organization. Better role distribution, clearer communication between teams, and more realistic planning had a major impact — as demonstrated by the success of Phantom Liberty, the game’s only major expansion.
Despite the criticism surrounding the launch, the negative press, and the crunch culture controversies, the Cyberpunk 2077 experience ultimately made CD Projekt Red stronger as a studio.
“Cyberpunk forced us to grow up as a studio,” Sasko concluded. “We have redone or iterated most of our procedures, and grew a habit of constantly optimizing and refining that process.”
