While still just a hope and a whisper in the minds of genre fans, Cyberpunk 2077 is set to stay true to its RPG roots, according to a new interview with developer CD Projekt RED CEO Marcin Iwinski. He tells IGN the game's sci-fi setting takes its role-playing cues from the Polish studio's much-celebrated Witcher series.
Now, I'm not sure who on planet Earth would imagine a game based on Mike Pondsmith's original pen-and-paper Cyberpunk RPG without the role-playing, but it's obviously an idea Iwinski feels he has to respond to in this new interview.
"People have been asking me if Cyberpunk 2077 will have multiplayer or if it will be a straight-up shooter, and I tell them to relax, because it will be a true RPG game," Iwinski says. "We are known for storytelling, and big game worlds, and so we’re taking all what we've learnt from previous three Witcher games, as well as the open-world aspect, and applying it to Cyberpunk 2077. So yes, it is an all-out RPG game, but we're looking at having a lot of new gameplay elements that I cannot talk about yet. One thing I can say for sure is that it is definitely NOT a multiplayer shooter."
That's not to say Cyberpunk's Night City wouldn't be a great place to stage a multiplayer shooter. But I suspect the team behind The Witcher have different plans, even if we did hear talk last year of Cyberpunk 2077 including some kind of "multiplayer features." Role-playing, a branching narrative, and meaningful character development are burnt into the DNA of the first two Witcher games, and I expect the same from the The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt when it releases later this year. A cyberpunk game with a similar attention to detail? Sign me up.
Hat tip, CVG.
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