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Having closed the book on Cyberpunk 2077 with the release of the Phantom Liberty expansion, Warsaw-based developer CD Projekt Red is looking towards the future. In addition to the next Witcher game, a Cyberpunk sequel (which we hope is called 2078) is officially underway, and, appropriately, the company has established a team to look into how AI can aid development. More exciting is the prospect of the potential inclusion of multiplayer, something which is currently being considered.
Speaking to Reuters, CDPR CEO Adam Badowski explained that the company is currently bulking up in order to meet the manpower demands of its in-development projects. Polaris, as the next title in The Witcher series is known internally, is in full development and the company's main focus, and Badowski said: "We'd like to have around 400 people working on the project by the middle of the year."
Development has just begun on the Cyberpunk sequel, codenamed Orion, having entered production just this month. Badowski says the plan is to expand the core team (which operates out of Boston) to 80 by the end of 2024. Co-CEO Michal Nowakowski said that the company was considering adding multiplayer elements to the game but refused to discuss further details.
Nowakowski also mentioned that CDPR had established a team to look into how the company could utilise AI during development: "We think that AI is something that can help improve certain processes in game production, but not replace people," he said.
What do you think about CDPR's plans for the future? Are you more excited by the prospect of (tentatively titled) The Witcher 4 or Cyberpunk 2078? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source reuters.com]
Comments 25
More witcher and cyberpunk is welcome. The AI prospect could be interesting especially if it learns how you play the game and adapts accordingly as this could be a game changer for everybody as not everybody's playthroughs will ever be similar. Multiplayer is fine so long as trophys are not locked behind specific online criteria. That's always been a long standing bugbear of mine where a predominantly single player experience has a small percentage of online requirements to unlock that platinum. I expect those kind of things in games that focus on the online aspect (cod,battle zone etc.) Hopefully we won't have to wait 10 years to find out.
Ah geez another offline game campaign developer going online. You'll only get a set amount of your lucky
I'm really looking forward to AI if done properly. Imagine loading up Skyrim or GTA and having a full conversation with your favourite character using a VR headset. That is literally one step below Star Trek's holodeck. Ooh baby! Sign me up for that.
I'm looking forward the day AI users will be paid in AI money for their "very hard" work...
And of course another studio trying to ruin its series by multiplayer...
ahhhh... not one, but two missteps at once. Please CDPR stick to that you are best in and leave these "things" for someone stupid.
I don't think "AI" means here more realistic, interesting behavior of npcs or more interesting interactive conversations with npcs. I think It mostly means to use "AI" to generate (or help with the generation of) the artwork, maybe voice-over and maybe even the dialogues.
Everyone championing AI, I do wonder how they'd feel if they lost their jobs due to AI. Even though my job is as secure as it gets, I feel really bad for everyone being affected by it.
@Mad001 @Djlard but nobody cries when multiplayer games add a single player mode .
Multiplayer =/= Live service . it’s a difference . I know games having more than ONE mode is a bygone era , but try to think back .
I mean AI and Cyberpunk kinda go hand in hand lol…. so it just depends on how they implement.
For example, to me, it would be better to implement AI for NPC dialogue (to an extent), considering 9 times out of 10 you always run into the same voices on different NPCs in 2077.
@djlard you do realize 2077 was supposed to have multiplayer? But it got canned when they had to fix the game.
And suddenly most people who were complaining about AI before are now not bothered because one of their favourite studios is using it. I don't care either though and I never did. Complaining was never going to stop them either so hopefully it speeds up development and doesn't lower the quality too much.
People dunking on AI all the time is getting drole now. He clearly said "AI is something that can help improve **certain processes in game production**". That sounds to me like very boring things that happen behind the scenes. For example, with MS CoPilot, you could have a design meeting on Teams, have the transcription of that meeting generated automatically by AI, and then drop that transcription into Word to have the meeting summarised really quickly, then the summary can be translated efficiently and sent out to the relevant people to read in their respective mother tongues, etc. All stuff that can be done now, turning a few days worth of drudgery for the producer's assistant into a couple hours of clicking and proofreading.
What it does not sound like is "this entire world will be AI generated" or anything like that.
Didn't Bethesda Game Studios used to build their map's topography with AI, before devs would jump in to place dungeons, cities, etc, around the place? Was that so controversial?
@naruball I'm a gamer. I'm looking forward to ai in that context. And yeah, I could lose my job to it. But y'know what? I could lose my job to ten other things too.
AI in this context isn't what people think it is, he's talking about using it to help in the development pipeline. Making things like texturing and adjusting models faster. World of Warcraft uses AI to resize helmets to fit all races for example. I doubt he means using it in a way that'll be perceptable to the player.
Chat GPT is going to write the multiplayer storyline. It’ll be awesome.
Please no MP crap. Surely they won to have a GTA V in their pocket but we'll wait ages before we get a next one if this is succesful and I hate that.
As long as they're not from beyond the Blackwall.
@naruball nothing says progress like shouting they took our jobs at every new innovation. The same thing was said about computers and automated factories but do we really want to live in a world without those? Maybe AI makes a meaningful contribution to our lives, maybe it doesn't but we shouldn't be staunchly opposed to it simply because the current long, expensive dev cycle means a few extra jobs (despite recent layoffs). The market will adjust if needed, there will be opportunity for everyone in some capacity. If it is anything like the computing innovation more jobs will be created in its wake but in a different form than the manual jobs they replaced.
I really doubt that AI will ever get to a point where there is no room for artists, actors or other job title to find work. Did the milk delivery workers live on the street when that model collapsed or did they find another way to contribute? There were plenty of other delivery opportunities or the chance to go into a new skill.
If there's one thing Cyberpunk doesn't need, at all, it's a multiplayer mode.
That's a sure fire way to ruin Project Orion. I sincerely hope they don't add that crap in.
Cyberpunk is a brilliant singleplayer narrative experience and either adding co-op will ruin the gameplay loop and experience or adding the multiplayer mode will take resources from the singleplayer experience.
They made $1.5bn on Cyberpunk. Don't mess with that.
I can see multiplayer working for Cyberpunk but I hope it doesn't detract from the second game.
Kind of sucks, we won't be able to continue as V but it is what it is.
I personally could see a GTA V Online-esque multiplayer mode.
But I would rather that they invest into a living, breathing world with plenty of well-thought out content. A world with the same plethora of hidden gems and Easter eggs riddled over the city.
No matter what, I am blown away by CDPR's work.
Ideas: Give me wall-running and sword dueling mechanics (and make it so that you can parry with anything even a rifle, but more clumsily and difficult of course).
Gun play could also be tweaked a bit for the better. And maybe the netrunning should be toned a bit down in combat as it becomes a bit easy in the end. Or maybe it is as it should be, idk.
@danzoEX and it was the best decision.
Hey, let’s paywall the stuff we promised behind a sequel while we bask in the glory of fixing a broken product!
Don’t get me wrong, the game is fine now. Still not my cup of tea but it’s a good game all the same. But I just find this press release laughable.
I'm all for it if it means games come out quicker.
They were going to make live service multiplayer for this game before it was canned after an unrealized singleplayer. Still, so many people have cp copies, and it's had a revival, why not try it on this game rather a sequel which'll generate lesser interest at release?
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