Three years after the release of Phantom Liberty, a Cyberpunk 2077 developer reveals that CD Projekt RED originally had a very different vision for the expansion’s ending.
When you work at CD Projekt RED, you definitely don’t have time to be bored. Of The Witcher 4 has Cyberpunk 2including other still very mysterious projects such as “Project Hadar” and “Project Sirius”, the Polish studio really has no shortage of things to do. And yet, that doesn’t stop a member of the team from revealing numerous secrets over the past few days. Because after having dismantled several fan theories, this developer of Cyberpunk 2077 tells us more about the abandoned end of its extension, Phantom Liberty.
A Cyberpunk 2077 developer takes a behind-the-scenes look at the game
Igor Sarzyński is certainly not a man who keeps his tongue in his pocket. The developer, who currently serves as creative director on Cyberpunk 2, spent the last few days speaking on Bluesky to discuss certain fan theories, which he did not hesitate to deny for the occasion. Whether to defend the duration of Act 1 of Cyberpunk 2077, or to justify the reasons which pushed CD Projekt to highlight the female version of V after the game’s release, Sarzyński undoubtedly knew how to answer fans’ questions.
But the creator didn’t stop there. Obviously eager to reveal more behind the scenes of the game, he also took the opportunity to write a long thread in which he returns to the question of “cut content”particularly with regard to the production of a game. “Creating a game involves constant management and reassessment of priorities in relation to scope, vision, quality and time [du projet] » explains the CD Projekt developer. “Throughout this process, as many elements are added as eliminated”.
A phenomenon which then affects open world RPGs like Cyberpunk 2077 all the more, as it is impossible to conceive “on paper” according to him. “You discover what works, what is necessary and what is unnecessary over many iterations” he assures in particular. “Things are added, removed, modified, reorganized as development progresses”and this at all levels. And this is what explains why the epilogue of Phantom Liberty completely changed along the way.
Phantom Liberty’s ending has changed, but it’s for the better
“The epilogue of Phantom Liberty was originally completely different”explains the developer of Cyberpunk 2077. “Much darker and stranger. But as our main story came together, we discovered that the epilogue didn’t really fit the tone and theme. So we replaced it with the current ending, ‘Tower’.”. In doing so, CD Projekt was then forced to remove various elements from the game, such as locations, scenes or even full-fledged game mechanics.
And this is where Sarzyński’s point turns out to be interesting. Because where players generally tend to see this as something negative, as something that would have been cut from a game like Cyberpunk 2077, he instead sees it as something positive. « [Tous ces contenus] have they been deleted? Yes. Did the game benefit from it? Without a doubt » he assures bluntly. « [C’est comme] our character progression system. We simplified it in a patch, and it is now more consistent and efficient”.
“More doesn’t always mean better” concludes the CD Projekt developer, who explains that their job also consists of knowing how to work “with a limited scope”. “You can’t add items forever (unless you’re Rockstar)” he slips in reference to the insane sense of detail demonstrated by the creators of GTA 6. So yes, Cyberpunk 2077 players may not have had the ending initially envisioned by the studio with Phantom Liberty, but if we are to believe Sarzyński, fortunately it is for the best.
Source : Igor Sarzyński
