The sequel to CD Projekt’s action role-playing game, Cyberpunk 2077, will feature a Chicago inspired city that took a turn for the worse.
During an interview at Digital Dragons 2025 in Krakow, Poland, Cyberpunk universe creator Mike Pondsmith revealed that the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, Project Orion, will feature a new Chicago inspired city in addition to Night City.
Pondsmith mentioned that the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 will take players to a new city in addition to Night City that doesn’t feel like Blade Runner and instead looks like a version of Chicago that’s “gone wrong”. Upon hearing a description from one of the environmental artists and seeing concept footage, he told the development team that he understood the vibe that it is going for and approved of it. The Cyberpunk universe creator jokingly ended the interview by saying, “I don’t know when to shut up.” This all but confirms fan theories regarding the next entry in the Cyberpunk 2077 universe taking players to Chicago.
When asked whether on his involvement in the development of the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, Pondsmith said that he isn’t as much involved directly because he has a designer in his crew who talks to the development team at CD Projekt, which frees him up to do other things. That said, he does go through the scripts and talks to different departments to see what they’ve been working on. He referred to a new cyberware that was shown to him some time ago. Additionally, he said that he spends a lot of time talking to one of the environmental artists, who shared details regarding the new city with him.
Previously, a job listing for the position of Senior Gameplay Animator at CD Projekt Red had hinted that the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel will be playable only from the first person perspective, excluding vehicular sections that will likely allow the switch to third person view, like in the original. Additionally, experience with motion matching was listed as a plus, suggesting that the game will take advantage of the advanced animation technology to implement more realistic and seamless animations.
