CD Projekt has added several industry veterans to Project Orion, the upcoming sequel to Cyberpunk 2077. The game is now in the early stages of development at its North American division.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
The Cyberpunk 2077 developer shared the news on its official website, also announcing several changes to its core team.
CD Projekt RED quest director Paweł Sasko was promoted to associate game director on the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel. He will work closely with the game’s main game director Gabriel Amatangelo, who helped it ship the Phantom Liberty expansion and played one of the key roles in improving work-life balance and workplace culture at the company.
The studio’s cinematic director Igor Sarzyński will serve as creative director of Project Orion, while Andrzej Stopa will take on the role of cinematic director.
Speaking of those who have just joined the Project Orion team, they are experienced developers and writers with notable projects in their portfolios:
- Executive producer Dan Hernberg — former head of production at Amazon Games and lead product manager at Blizzard, who contributed to titles such as New World, Apex Legends, and Diablo III;
- Design director Ryan Barnard — experienced game designer and director, whose portfolio includes games like Hitman 2, EverQuest II, and The Division;
- Engineering director Alan Villani — former co-owner of CD Projekt’s subsidiary The Molasses Flood, who also served as technical director at NetherRealm Studios and VP of technology at Warner Bros. where he worked on many Mortal Kombat games and the Batham: Arkham series;
- Lead writer Anna Megill — experienced writer and narrative designer, who worked on Control, Guild Wars, Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, and the upcoming Fable title from Playground Games;
- Writer Alexander Freed — New Yrok Times bestselling novelist, narrative designer, and comic book writer, who also worked with many game studios like BioWare, DICE, and Obsidian Entertainment.
Other key members of the Project Orion team include acting lead quest designer Sarah Grümmer and engineering director Kacper Kościeński. CD Projekt is now also hiring for positions ranging from senior quest designer to lead environment artist.
Together, they will work at the newly established CD Projekt RED studio in Boston. In October 2023, the company noted that Project Orion was at a “conceptualization stage,” so it is still years ahead of release.
The plans for the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel were first revealed in October 2022, when CD Projekt announced its new business strategy. In addition to Project Orion, the company has several other titles in its pipeline, including the next Witcher game codenamed Polaris, a remake of the first Witcher from Fool’s Theory, and an untitled project based on a new IP codenamed Hadar.
Cyberpunk 2077 has sold over 25 million copies globally since its launch in December 2020. The game was given a new life last year with the release of patch 2.0 and the Phantom Liberty expansion, which has already surpassed 5 million units sold.