EDIT: Since the time of writing, CD Projekt Red has spoken out against the leak. Find out more here. Original story as follows.
According to a leaked source, the higher-ups at CD Projekt Red could be planning a “No Man’s Sky style comeback” for Cyberpunk 2077.
The leaked information is apparently from an alleged developer at CDPR, and was first shared on the GameFAQs forum before making its way over to Reddit.
There are loads of alleged details ranging from cut content, mismanagement and an insight into what might be going on at CDPR between the developers and the management/executives.
Obviously these rumours are currently unconfirmed and while they may or may not be true, at this time we must take this information with a pinch of salt.
That said, we all know by now that while Cyberpunk 2077 seems to be in a slightly better state, it was quite the mess at launch, in particular with the base PS4 and Xbox One versions.
The rumour suggests that – as you might expect – staff morale at CDPR is at an all-time low and “major departures” from the studio are expected “in the coming months.”
Due to the PS4 refund saga, Sony are said to be “roasting our asses” and Sony executives are apparently finding a way to compensate players threatening legal action.
As already mentioned the developers are apparently hearing from the higher-ups that Cyberpunk 2077 plans for a “No Man’s Sky style comeback” with large updates planned to fix the game by late June. Nothing else on the matter was disclosed, but it’s at least sounding hopeful to hear the game will continue to see improvements.
As most of us expect to hear, loads of content was apparently cut from the game and much of it sounds incredible. Content was reportedly cut and code and quests were rewritten because apparently a “top dog wasn’t feeling it”.
Many missions and over 50,000 lines of dialogue were also allegedly scrapped. Night City was supposed to have a “huge underground part of the city that the public never got to see” and the source claims to compare it to the likes of “Malkavian/Nosferatu path on Vampire the Masquerade.”
The source also claims that this underground area of Night City was “f**king awesome” but was cut due to an executive believing that it “looked ugly”. It is said that many of the locked buildings were meant to be explorable, full of goods to loot, which again was also cut.
NPCs were also supposed to play a bigger role in the game, especially in terms of AI. Random gang violence was planned in certain areas, which the player could either watch unfold or get involved in.
Police pathfinding script apparently “worked wonderfully”, that was until someone “screwed the pooch.” The source claims however that this pathfinding script is being fixed.
The source also claims to not be a fan of Keanu Reeves’ work as Johnny Silverhand, despite being “a very nice man.” The source claims that the original version of Johnny “was way cooler and sounded like a maniac.”
Apparently the reason that Keanu Reeves was brought in was down to an executive to give the game some star power.
It is said that the original form of Johnny Silverhand was inspired by David Hayter’s Solid Snake from the original Metal Gear Solid and apparently Cillian Murphy, star of Peaky Blinders.
You can read up on further details of all the rumours over on GameFAQ or Reddit. As mentioned, the source isn’t confirmed to be a CDPR dev, so take it all with a pinch of salt.
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Featured Image Credit: Hello Games/CD Projekt Red