CD Projekt Cancels Cyberpunk Multiplayer Project, Focuses on Developing Single Player Game

GAMEFINITY.ID, Jakarta – The next AAA CD Projekt Red (CDPR) game will not be Cyberpunk’s standalone multiplater game, as previously planned. This was confirmed by the company on Tuesday (30/3/2021).

Previously, in January 2021 CD Projekt said the Cyberpunk multiplayer game project would be a “triple-A” release on its own, rather than an add-on from Cyberpunk 2077 which was released in December 2021.

However, CDPR president and co-CEO Adam Kicinski said in a video released on Tuesday that the Cyberpunk multiplayer project had been “reconsidered”. This is part of a broader update to CD Projekt’s strategy.

“Earlier we hinted that our next triple-A would be a multiplayer Cyberpunk game, but we’ve decided to reconsider now. Given our new, more systematic and agile approach, instead of focusing on one big online game or experience, we are focused on bringing online gaming to all of our franchises one day,” Kicinski said.

In a conference call held after the initial announcement, Kicinski was asked to confirm which games are currently in the CD Projekt Red development pipeline. He confirmed that CDPR will continue to develop its multiplayer game.

“We changed our approach, so we want multiplayer in our future games, but step by step. We’re working on special features to improve our single player (game), but we’re not working on releasing the next game (as a) big online game. So, we will enhance our single player game with an online experience.”

Kicinski said CD Projekt actually started working on the online component more than two years ago, and is currently continuing to do so. However, they changed their approach not as a main production line but as a supporting production line along with the production of other single player games,

“We believe that our ideas will really appeal to gamers, by bringing extra experiences in our world that match our single-player games.”

Kicinski also said that the studio has some “very strong ideas and prototypes” for the multiplayer experience, but it’s too early to talk about monetization plans.

“Let’s stress here, CD Projekt Red made a single-player story-based AAA RPG, that hasn’t changed. What has changed is our long-term approach to online (gaming).

“What we mean is to make sure that we are really ready to implement online elements in our games. We don’t want to overdo it or lose our single player DNA. We want to take prudent steps to build strong online capabilities.”

CD Projekt Red is claiming to be building online technology that can be seamlessly integrated into the company’s future game development. Later, this technology will empower the online component to be introduced in CDPR games.

For your information, the first details of Cyberpunk 2077’s multiplayer mode were previously discovered by data miners in January. References to Heists and Deathmatch multiplayer modes are seen in the game’s executable file by DSOGaming.

The code associated with Heist implies that players can choose from a variety of character classes in a co-op mission-based game mode. The data also hints that multiplayer can rely on P2P connections rather than dedicated servers.