Announcing Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

[Restlessdingo32]

People are saying that expansion will be happening within the main story time because Johnny is here and in almost every ending we are separating him from V. But you never know what devs can do

Is Johnny there? I only ask because as far as I could tell you hear his voice. You don't actually see him. Even if he is actually there, insofar as a digital construct can be "there", in what context is it?

It's also worth considering the expansion name. Phantom Liberty. Those two words paired together is interesting by itself.

 

[AikoHayashi]

I hope that V's story will be continued, the endings left too many questions. But at the end I would be happy to play any new content with V

 

[Vit_o_matic]

Is Johnny there? I only ask because as far as I could tell you hear his voice. You don't actually see him. Even if he is actually there, insofar as a digital construct can be "there", in what context is it?

It's also worth considering the expansion name. Phantom Liberty. Those two words paired together is interesting by itself.

Dunno, there were leaks about expansion months ago, and it seems that some people are sure that expansion events will took place during the main game story, so Johnny still will be there in form of same construct in V's head. But there is a glitchy femenine figure in the teaser, so who knows how much he (Johnny) will be involved in all that. Maybe we will get a new 'passanger' in V's head?

P.S. If you saw the leaks PLEASE do not spoil here anything, some of those leaks can easily turn to be true

 

[koalahugs]

Oh, by the way, they neglected to mention this little bit...
View attachment 11316767

Awww man - can't help but feel a bit anxious about that. Was hoping for more than one expansion, but who knows, if this one successfully wraps up V's story, then I'll be happy. If it doesn't... then I dunno... if this one sells enough, maybe they'll reconsider

Btw, everyone, it's a YouTube comment (from the video linked in the OP); not a Tweet.

 

[devonm996r]

I'm so excited for these new updates. But if the expansion is next-gen only, what about the content I was promised to be included for my Special Edition Xbox One X?

 

[LeKill3rFou]

I'm so excited for these new updates. But if the expansion is next-gen only, what about the content I was promised to be included for my Special Edition Xbox One X?

Unfortunately, here what you'll expect :

The expansion is being developed for PC, Stadia, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S*. Coming in 2023.

*Important: owners of the Xbox One X - Cyberpunk 2077 Limited Edition Bundle will receive a reimbursement for the expansion in the form of Microsoft Store credits. Please stay tuned for more details about this procedure.

 

[Restlessdingo32]

Dunno, there were leaks about expansion months ago, and it seems that some people are sure that expansion events will took place during the main game story, so Johnny still will be there in form of same construct in V's head.

I don't put much stock into leaks. I can't say I've bothered to look into them either. To each their own there I guess.

It could easily be a flashback or something too. It's possible those events do not even occur in the "real" world. Instead going down in the magical land of Cyber rainbows and Unicorns. The underlying point is there are many sayings about assumptions. Hardly any of them are good. Especially in this case given the setting.

But there is a glitchy femenine figure in the teaser, so who knows how much he (Johnny) will be involved in all that. Maybe we will get a new 'passanger' in V's head?

Yes, it does raise some questions. That individual doesn't seem particularly concerned with the large aircraft crashing over there, for instance. We'll just have to wait and see I guess.....

 

[Robotic_Onion]

I think Homer Simspon said it best.

"But I want it now."

 

[strangerr3]

After todays investors call its clear as never - only one mayor expansion for CP2077. And in 2023 and felt like they are afraid to even said Q1 so I dont know.

 

[Vit_o_matic]

After todays investors call its clear as never - only one mayor expansion for CP2077. And in 2023 and felt like they are afraid to even said Q1 so I dont know.

Can you spit some details about that call?

 

[OmegaBlocker]

As long as Judy and Panam are in the expansion in anyway, I'm game for it

 

[pliskards]

Can you spit some details about that call?

CDPR Group H1 2022 Earnings Call

They pretty much flat out say the expansion is the last project on their own technology (REDEngine). So the odds of us getting another expansion are basically zero. Outside of Phantom Liberty being like the best selling game in the history of games I imagine nothing is going to change their mind.

They also go on to say "We decided to only develop one major expansion for Cyberpunk." They go on to say it is going to take advantage of the newer consoles. But they are adamant that they are not getting rid of the franchise as they have sunk a lot into it.

In their words "It is just one major expansion. However, there will be new stuff in the future". When he says that he is referring to the Cyberpunk IP - not Cyberpunk 2077. So they are going to get to work on Cyberpunk 2 and I imagine there is going to be a 'Thronebreaker' level thing that eventually comes out for Cyberpunk as well.

They say that they consider the expansion to be "great" and went out of the way to say that it is "ambitious".

Also - RED 2.0 is extremely exciting. They have two AAA games in development right now (CP2077 Expansion and Witcher 4). It sounds like after that they will start developing The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2 side-by-side, obviously with a heavier focus on The Witcher 4 as that will be coming out first. But they even have a chunk of people still on 'Other Projects' and it wouldn't shock me if that is pre-production for Cyberpunk 2.

 

[HazTaz]

Get ready for Phantom Liberty — a spy-thriller expansion for Cyberpunk 2077 set in an all new district of Night City. Coming in 2023 to PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Stadia.

I have to ask, is there going to be a truly compelling reason for V to be doing this while they are quite literally dying slowly?

I mean, I will buy and play all the content you release for this game (I must say I truly believe that if this is your one and only expansion then you are abandoning your gold mine before you've used your dynamite if you catch my drift) but you need to make some minor dialogue changes in the main story to make it seem like V is not being a total idiot by doing stupid stuff while they should be trying to save themselves.

Even if you have incremental radiant conversations with Johnny where he asks why V is ignoring their urgent condition, and you can choose from a handful of responses based on your personal philosophy.

If you would like some more input, I would be happy to write the dialogue for you and figure out how exactly it could be implemented. I am a Creative Writing Master's student so I'm not just pulling some Wattpad fan-fic level writing out of nowhere. I really truly believe that the whole essence of the game and the flow of gameplay is hampered by the fact that it's never addressed why V can just leave Takemura sat in the diner for weeks and nothing happens.

I know, I know, open world games always have this kind of thing going on, like Skyrim with the main quest to save the entire world from destruction, but even that game suggests that Alduin was taking a lot of time feasting on the souls of the fallen in the civil war to grow enough power to fulfill his destiny. Cyberpunk doesn't have that. It needs it, badly.

This idea will absolutely pull a lot of strings and probably be a far bigger rabbit hole than I realise as of writing this comment, but I adore this game and it's world and I want to be able to fully immerse myself in it without having to make a headcanon that goes against the writing of the game itself.

Thanks for reading, I hope you don't take offense to anything I've said.

 

[Netaxus]

It locks disappointing, just story and the still existing desintiagrity of general world content stays the same. As my before speaker, it really looks like that there will be only one expansion, that recycles existing assets, with some new main plot ones.

Means a bound to V with Johnny in your head, no peace of time, just in a rush. Sometimes I forget that V has an existential threat, with in the same time realizing there isn't any content left, or there where never any contend beside the story - the construction mind frame and orientation how and why you face NC is story only. An open map for an consumption style story mode, one way game, it is a waste of opportunity.

Basically you don't need cars, especially the nomad cars, there isn't any meaning of distances. To say it harsh, NC is an instance generator with an useless only theoretically existing open map. Every made expansion, like this one in name and story intentions indicate no greater use of NC, as it is.

 

[ReptilePZ]

Probably going to hold off on buying this unless it has a significantly different gameplay loop compared to the main game. I trust that it will be a fun one nonetheless for those that did find Cyberpunk 2077 to already be great, so I think those players should be excited for it. One point worth keeping in mind though is that it's unlikely that any of the existing romance options will play a significant role in the expansion, if previous CDPR expansions are anything to go by - I know there's a gaggle of fans out there that really care about this. Might want to keep those expectations in check, if you're part of that group, lest you get grievously disappointed.

If you would like some more input, I would be happy to write the dialogue for you and figure out how exactly it could be implemented. I am a Creative Writing Master's student so I'm not just pulling some Wattpad fan-fic level writing out of nowhere.

Oh boy...

https://www.cdprojekt.com/en/careers/jobs/?job-company=cd-projekt-red

 

[pliskards]

Another thing encouraging for the size and amount of content in Phantom Liberty...

From the earnings call. There was a pretty big chunk of the team on this all of the way back in December of 2020 - around when the game launched. A year ago they had a growing amount of people on it and since December of 2021 there have been a ton of people working on it. By the time the expansion comes around it will have been in development for anywhere from two to three years.

It was about four years (give or take, 2016-2020) from Blood and Wine to the release of Cyberpunk 2077. That means that they are spending about half of the time developing the expansion as they did the actual base game.

That definitely gets my hopes up that it is going to be really, really big.

 

[northwold]

There is very little point ranting about the expansion happening before the endings of the base game when we do not know that it happens before the endings of the base game.

Quite frankly, if people cannot conceive of the many, many ways in which JS could very easily be present after the existing endings without damaging the storytelling in any way -- ALL of the endings, including the short one -- then maybe they played a different game(!).

It might do. It might not. Until there's any actual evidence then what is the point of getting upset about it?

 

[LeKill3rFou]

Quite frankly, if people cannot conceive of the many, many ways in which JS could be present after the existing endings -- ALL of them, including the short one -- then maybe they played a different game(!).

Bringing Johnny back seems to me to be the easiest part

 

[ReptilePZ]

Another thing encouraging for the size and amount of content in Phantom Liberty...

View attachment 11317034

From the earnings call. There was a pretty big chunk of the team on this all of the way back in December of 2020 - around when the game launched. A year ago they had a growing amount of people on it and since December of 2021 there have been a ton of people working on it. By the time the expansion comes around it will have been in development for anywhere from two to three years.

It was about four years (give or take, 2016-2020) from Blood and Wine to the release of Cyberpunk 2077. That means that they are spending about half of the time developing the expansion as they did the actual base game.

That definitely gets my hopes up that it is going to be really, really big.

In the spirit of learning from past mistakes, I would hesitate to draw any conclusions in terms of expected scope based on vague graphs regarding time and amounts of people working on the expansion. Quality - not just quantity - takes time and effort, and in the case of Cyberpunk 2077 and its post-launch support, it seems to be the case that there is a lot of time and effort that is required when working on this project. I would also refrain from putting pressure on the devs in terms of expecting them to over-deliver, if the hope is for CDPR to have learned lessons from CP2077's development.

 

[CTPhipps]

I was anticipating the expansion not coming to last-gen, however general consensus in the playerbase and media being that Cyberpunk should never have been released on older consoles in the first place means that any outcry will likely be quiet, short lived or shouted down on message boards by anyone with modern hardware. It was rare to even find an article when the 1.5 update completely broke the game for owners of the PS4 disc version or the numerous missing features (Iguana pet, new weapon inspects, etc...)

I mean that's a stupid statement given it was announced for the last generation at the start of last generation. Also, when there was a massive shortage of next generation consoles to begin with. So much so that I paid a significant sum to be able to upgrade to PS4 Pro.