The developers say they want to go even further with the dystopian setting of the Cyberpunk 2077 successor.
In the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, previously referred to as Project Orion, the developer wants to show an even more pronounced dystopian future. The team agreed that the first part did not go far enough with the “social commentary”.
In Episode 7 of the AnswerRed Podcast, Associate Game Director Paweł Sasko talked about this aspect, citing the homelessness crisis as an example.
“I see, for example, that we have not gone far enough in some places,” said Sasko via IGN. “Like the homeless crisis, for example. When I look at that, I think to myself: ‘We are in [Cyberpunk 2077] didn’t go far enough. We thought we were dystopian, but we only touched the surface.'”
The idea behind themes like this is to draw parallels to the real world and explore them further in an emotional way, added executive producer Dan Hernberg.
“I think what’s really cool about cyberpunk – and the dystopian future that it has – is that there’s so much relevance to today, to megacorporations, to people on the margins, to people just being exploited, to the wealth gap, to all of those things. I think that 2077 gave us the opportunity to tell these stories in a way that, at the core, is always about relationships and people, but we live in a really broken world, and that we can address some of those things,” Hernberg said.
“I think that’s what cyberpunk is about for me, exploring these themes, but in a very poignant way. I love that world, and I think that’s what we’re going to try to do with Project Orion. We’re leaning further into that and asking, ‘What does the world look like today, and what will it look like in a few years?'”