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IT WAS “A TECHNOLOGICAL DECISION” DUE TO THE COMPANY’S SWITCH TO UNREAL ENGINE DEVELOPMENT

Shortly after its announcement last September, CD Projekt said the upcoming Phantom Liberty was the only planned expansion for the sci-fi RPG.

The company elaborated on this decision during its quarterly earnings call on Wednesday.

During a Q&A session, CD Projekt was asked how many Phantom Liberty sales might convince it to make a second expansion for the game.

“The decision has actually been made,” replied SVP of business development Michał Nowakowski. “As we have announced a long time ago, we’re not going to make a second or third expansion. This is the only expansion of the game, and it has nothing to do with the numbers and how satisfied or not we are with sales or anything of the kind.

“It’s a technological decision to be honest,” he continued. “This is the last time we’re working on the Red Engine for the time being at least, and in the foreseeable future as you know we are working on the Unreal Engine from Epic. This was one of the key reasons why we decided this was the only one.”

Alongside the news that it was working on the next mainline Witcher game, CD Projekt announced in March 2022 that it had entered into a 15-year partnership with Epic that would see the companies collaborate on Unreal Engine projects including engine and game development.

Set for release on September 26, Phantom Liberty promises to entirely overhaul the way Cyberpunk 2077 is played, according to CD Projekt.

In an interview in June, creative director Pawel Sasko and quest designer Despoina Anetaki told VGC that “all the core main systems” of the game have been “redone or updated in a major way”.

Following Phantom Liberty’s release, the next Cyberpunk game, Project Orion, will begin development at a new US-based studio called CD Projekt Red North America.

CD Projekt has explained why Phantom Liberty will be Cyberpunk 2077’s only expansion | VGC

It was “a technological decision” due to the company’s switch to Unreal Engine development…

www.videogameschronicle.com

 

[Dr_Ifto]

It makes sense. Go out with a bang with the game, and then move to the next. This one has a tarnished history, so they need their devs working on the next one, especially with the new engine.

 

[Magic Carpet]

They ran out of Technology? It's all gone?

 

[intbal]

Goodbye RedEngine.
Hello 720p UE5.

 

[Bernoulli]

Epic Games domination

 

[SABRE220]

Clearly they were having issues with the physics and probably the development pipeline with the redengine. That being said honestly speaking looking at the recent ue5 releases, Im not too sure that moving to ue5 is a significant upgrade unless the engine becomes more optimized in the future.

 

[Luipadre]

Any info about the lenght of this expansion? Witcher expansions were crazy in terms of content and this is 30 euro, but im expecting a 10 hour dlc tbh

 

[Crispy Gamer]

As long as they can fully customize UE5 to make it their own I'm down even though I wish they kept building on the RED engine but I guess they know the limitations of it, the next Witcher is gonna look insane

 

[Mr Hyde]

So excited to play this now that it's finally finished. Hoping for a real juicy physical edition for PS5.

 

[T4keD0wN]

IT WAS “A TECHNOLOGICAL DECISION” DUE TO THE COMPANY’S SWITCH TO UNREAL ENGINE DEVELOPMENT

Too bad they have completely gave up on making good games in order to have an easier time developing and recruiting people.

 

[Xtib81]

I think that's a good call. I hope CP2078 or whatever it's called is next gen only (ps6 etc..) otherwise the 2020 fiasco may repeat.

 

[HL3.exe]

I get it, but it's a shame really. Now that you have all the systems in place and everything supposedly working how you want, it would be easier/faster to create and ship new content drops in such a environment.

Instead of (like what they've now chosen) build the whole pipelines again on a new engine which takes a lot of time but maybe the engine switch will unlock some new gameplay opportunities, who knows. They probably made the smarter choice.

 

[gaming_again]

Shame. I’m in love with Night City and its characters.

 

[vkbest]

Goodbye RedEngine.
Hello 720p UE5.

Unreal 5 is practically a beta engine currently. Also, the studios releasing games for UE 5 are not the top either.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

Goodbye RedEngine.
Hello 720p UE5.

To be fair, the next CyberPunk likely won't run on the current consoles.

 

[MMaRsu]

Epic Games domination

Thats not a good thing.

Denuvo’s new Unreal Engine Protection may make it harder to mod some PC games | VGC

The anti-tamper company’s new feature is designed “to deter game modification”…

www.videogameschronicle.com

Denuvo’s new Unreal Engine Protection may make it harder to mod some PC games​

The anti-tamper company’s new feature is designed “to deter game modification”

 

[The Cockatrice]

Well just like Bioware, CDPR will most likely sink below earth and die. They also moved to US or at least some team did so goodbye actual eastern european devs that were born with an IT book in thier hands and hello pink haired I am Triggered devs. Excited to see their next game how it turns out.

 

[StereoVsn]

Goodbye RedEngine.
Hello 720p UE5.

I freaking hate this stupid trend. Cyberpunk is very scalable on modern hardware and still looks damn good.

UE5 performs like crap, with sole exception of Fortnite.

 

[gaming_again]

Well just like Bioware, CDPR will most likely sink below earth and die. They also moved to US or at least some team did so goodbye actual eastern european devs that were born with an IT book in thier hands and hello pink haired I am Triggered devs. Excited to see their next game how it turns out.

I really hope you’re wrong.

 

[Bkdk]

Unreal engine is a good fit for cyberpunk titles, a lot easier to create a futuristic open world city.

 

[Arachnid]

This GOAT tier expansion is more than most games get so I'm good with it. On to the next experience.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

I'm convinced that there would have been more DLC. But they had to spend years just fixing the base game.

 

[rhodesianshepard]

This GOAT tier expansion is more than most games get so I'm good with it. On to the next experience.

The last thing this DLC needs is to be overhyped

 

[Arachnid]

The last thing this DLC needs is to be overhyped

I've always loved 2077 and was never a part of the hate brigade, so definitely not in my case. The game is fantastic, and I just want more.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Unreal engine 5.....

 

[DaGwaphics]

Unreal engine 5.....

Hopefully they will really master it. The visuals in CP are top notch from the screenshots I've seen, maybe they will have the focus to get an impressive project out. I think the reputation of UE5 has been hurt a bit by smaller projects being the first to hit with it (outside of fortnite which runs fine).

 

[balls of snow]

Yeah they going full development on Cyberpunk 2 per ign interview after the expansion. Can you imagine Night City in Unreal 5 with Nanite and Lumen on current non pro consoles. Will be 720p all over again.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I'm just hoping it isn't for more than that and not some stupid exclusivity because not even CDPR is exempt from my distain for EGS exclusives.

 

[JonSnowball]

Thats not a good thing.

Denuvo’s new Unreal Engine Protection may make it harder to mod some PC games | VGC

The anti-tamper company’s new feature is designed “to deter game modification”…

www.videogameschronicle.com

Denuvo’s new Unreal Engine Protection may make it harder to mod some PC games​

The anti-tamper company’s new feature is designed “to deter game modification”

Yes, CDPR who are well known for DRM free distribution of their titles and run GOG are going to employ an optional DRM plugin to stifle modding in UE5. This is a likely scenario, like my penis separating from my body and flying to Saturn.

 

[MMaRsu]

Yes, CDPR who are well known for DRM free distribution of their titles and run GOG are going to employ an optional DRM plugin to stifle modding in UE5. This is a likely scenario, like my penis separating from my body and flying to Saturn.

Could be mandated by Epic. Stranger things have happened. Who knows

 

[DeaDPo0L84]

I'm good with this, go out with a bang with Phantom Liberty and come back in 3 years or so with all your ducks in a row and not have the same launch issues as CP2077.

 

[Imtjnotu]

Goodbye RedEngine.
Hello 720p UE5.

432p UE5

 

[Roni]

I get it, but it's a shame really. Now that you have all the systems in place and everything supposedly working how you want, it would be easier/faster to create and ship new content drops in such a environment.

Yes.

It's a shame how a panicked political decision within the institution brought about by the same people who made the panicked financial decision of releasing the game as it was in 2020 is preventing them from keep working on their own tech and making money on this iteration.

I'd pay 30-60 bucks for more of what we're getting with Phantom Liberty every 18 months easy.

 

[killatopak]

Translation: We’re working on Witcher 4.

 

[Gameplay Gods Bless]

They ran out of Technology? It's all gone?

That's the excuse but you can read between the lines as he says the majority of the Phantom Liberty team will immediately move to work on the next Witcher which already has 260 devs on it. Basically CDPR is going big on the next Witcher and laying the foundation for their UE5 development at the cost of Cyberpunk 1 and potential new expansions. I don't like it but what can you do.

 

[PlayedStation]

I will definitely be awaiting the cyberpunk sequel with the same fervor as GTA6.

 

[yamaci17]

just keep the engine. it looks nextgen as is. no need to go to ue5. just stick to linear design (performance would even be better then)

ue5 will be horrible. you will get the same baseline "gameplay and physics" (maybe even worse somehow) experience from lastgen with forced "lumen" that runs at 720p which atrociously blurry visuals

 

[Hot5pur]

I don't think devs take the UE5 decision lightly. The engine itself makes stuff look quite good imo, just needs optimization .. probably. The downside is it kinda screws ppl with low end specs and current gen consoles, I guess that's the tradeoff devs make for adopting new tech.

 

[Arsic]

All fine with me. This expansion will overhaul and fix the base game which had plenty of content, and the expansion will layer on many new pieces of content to leave players with a beefy game to enjoy.

With the success of the anime I hope we get a sequel at some point.

 

[Sleepwalker]

15 year agreement with epic is gonna amount to like 1 game and 1 expansion, maybe a second smaller game at most.

Hopefully phantom liberty is good.

 

[HL3.exe]

Yes.

It's a shame how a panicked political decision within the institution brought about by the same people who made the panicked financial decision of releasing the game as it was in 2020 is preventing them from keep working on their own tech and making money on this iteration.

I'd pay 30-60 bucks for more of what we're getting with Phantom Liberty every 18 months easy.

Yeah, it's one of the reasons why I believe dev studios going Public is bad for actual game-development. Way to much outside influence and stakes from investors, just for extra coin so you can pay celebrities to promote your game in expensive marketing.

If CD Projekt had stayed Private, it's budget would probably have had been scaled down, but at least they'd have more integrity with their projects and not pivot all the time.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

Because Cyberpunk will finally become a finished game?

 

[Ginzeen]

Because Cyberpunk will finally become a finished game?

it was already a finished game?

 

[Wingnut]

Still unsure of this is really a good call. I am not that impressed yet with UE5.

At least not how developers are using it. Time will tell if it was a good decision or not.
Cyberpunk is one of my favorite games of all time.

 

[kuncol02]

Yes.

It's a shame how a panicked political decision within the institution brought about by the same people who made the panicked financial decision of releasing the game as it was in 2020 is preventing them from keep working on their own tech and making money on this iteration.

I'd pay 30-60 bucks for more of what we're getting with Phantom Liberty every 18 months easy.

Huh? RedEngine was barely kept together with strings and duct tape even in Witcher 3 (and everyone knew that). Tech debt of that engine is so big that it probably would be easier for them to start from scratch than try to fix it.

 

[Braag]

Only thing I can think of when I hear Unreal Engine is decent visuals with a ton of performance issues.
It's a real shame that they're abandoning Red Engine, it looked stunning and scaled quite well with whatever hardware you were using. I'm guessing development with the engine was a headache and it's probably not as flexible as UE is.

 

[Skifi28]

I've yet to see a game in UE5 with both good visuals and performance. Until then, I remain unconvinced about such decisions. Maybe lords of the fallen? We'll see.

 

[Roni]

Huh? RedEngine was barely kept together with strings and duct tape even in Witcher 3 (and everyone knew that). Tech debt of that engine is so big that it probably would be easier for them to start from scratch than try to fix it.

I have no disagreements with your statement and still fail to see how it is relevant.

Unreal, Frostbite and other engines all have had iterations and work done on them.

They left REDEngine, but that didn't prevent them from going in there and implementing a bunch of new features anyway for Phantom Liberty and 2.0.

 

[kuncol02]

I have no disagreements with your statement and still fail to see how it is relevant.

Unreal, Frostbite and other engines all have had iterations and work done on them.

They left REDEngine, but that didn't prevent them from going in there and implementing a bunch of new features anyway for Phantom Liberty and 2.0.

It's not political decision that they are killing RedEngine but technical one. It's main problem in their development pipeline since basically beginning. In it's current state RedEngine is unmaintainable, unfixable without rewriting from scratch and it's development is unsustainable with amount of resources available for CDP.

 

[crackajack]

It's not political decision that they are killing RedEngine but technical one. It's main problem in their development pipeline since basically beginning. In it's current state RedEngine is unmaintainable, unfixable without rewriting from scratch and it's development is unsustainable with amount of resources available for CDP.

Switching to Unreal makes sense long term, but if their next game is maybe coming for this gen I don't see why it could not have used their own engine. Things are now working good enough on console, except last gen consoles of course, and the game is a technical showpiece on PC. Something Unreal has yet to prove with an actual game. So they replace a maybe hard to work with element in their dev job, one they managed now, with another, promising, but yet not really fully fleshed out environment, presumably coming with a bunch of problems they don't know yet and have arguably less influence about?