Multiplayer

[Reaper290816]

What's everyone's thoughts on the sequel of cyberpunk 2077 having a multiplayer?

My thoughts:
Personally I think it's a horrible idea, for one, not every game needs a multiplayer, CDPR should focus on giving us what they are good at, story heavy, interactive and compelling single player games.

Not to mention and while I know they did their work, they still released cyberpunk 2077 in an awful state that to this day still isn't exactly what they promised and even to their own words lacks a lot of rpg elements, if that's anything to go on, I think they should actually focus giving us the best single player rpg they can, actually focus on what they are good at and give us their absolute best before they work on expanding into multiplayer. Don't get me wrong I acknowledge their work and effort they've put to get cyberpunk 2077 where is is today but I also remember waiting years for it to release, pre ordering it only to have to wait 2 years for it to be in such a state I could play, enjoy and not have any real issues

 

[Tarille]

It doesn't fit with the style of games that CDPR makes and especially not with the ideologies behind CP2077.

Which is story focused, immersive experiences.

However, I could see there being a big draw for a separate multiplayer mode for the game. Much like how GTAV has its single player story focused mode and then has its online mode where you create a custom avatar and go around doing multiplayer stuff.

The crux of it will come down to resource management and overall implementations.

Ideally, the single player aspect should be unaffected by any multiplayer, meaning it gets the full attention from the main team during its development. With no parts of the game diluted in order to facilitate any multiplayer interactions (Like nerfing time slowing cyberware because such things cannot function in multiplayer)

Given that CDPR have expanded into multiple different studios and also hire contractors to work on certain projects... It's quite feasible that they can have a separate team work on a multiplayer mode (Or stand-alone multiplayer title). Though they will have to address their lack of experience in such endeavours. Not many companies can make their first multiplayer title actually good (See: Rockstar and RDR Online or Bioware and Anthem)

So yeah... Their primary focus should always be the single player experiences that they're known for.

But I can see them doing some multiplayer stuff with their expanded studios, without taking resources away from the single player games.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

What's everyone's thoughts on the sequel of cyberpunk 2077 having a multiplayer?

Most likely "Cyberpunk 2" will include at least some multiplayer element(s).
Because they offered positions not long ago, in particular a "Lead Network Engineer" for Cyberpunk 2 at Boston. And in the "job description" here what we can read :

• Design, implement, and maintain scalable and efficient network architectures for online features.
• Ensure low-latency, high-performance online experiences for players.
• Lead your team to develop and optimize multiplayer systems, including matchmaking, and address challenges related to latency, bandwidth usage, and server performance.

So yes, there will be some multiplayer features in the game it's sure. To what extent (just little features included in the game like Dragon Dogma 2 or a totally separate online mode like GTA 5), we will have to wait.
But I have no doubt (and they said it multiple times), they main focus is still to make "great solo experiences". So no worry if you do not care about multiplayer like me, Cyberpunk 2 will be at first a solo game

 

[Guest 4802528]

CDPR should stick to what they do best: single player RPGs. At least when it comes to strictly SP series like Cyberpunk and The Witcher.

 

[Reaper290816]

But I have no doubt (and they said it multiple times), they main focus is still to make "great solo experiences".

What they say and what they deliver are 2 seperate things, frankly I think them sperating their focus at all is a bad idea and will only hurt the SP experience because even if they spend 900 hours on SP but 200 on MP, that's 200 that could've spent perfecting the SP even more

 

[disco__hospital]

Unfortunately, I don’t really believe the multiplayer will end up being that great. Sure, they could release it as just an extra pack like in Red Dead Redemption 2, Ghost of Tsushima, or Watch Dogs Legion. But honestly, in all of those games the multiplayer community always turns out super toxic and you can’t even finish your mission because random players keep shooting at you, griefing, and so on.

My favorite take on multiplayer is what Sea of Thieves does: you can just go on adventures with your own trusted crew of friends without other players interfering, or you can sail in the open sea with everyone else if you feel like it.

 

[Reaper290816]

Unfortunately, I don’t really believe the multiplayer will end up being that great.

I could imagine nothing worse than for cyberpunk to get a multiplayer, people look to CDPR for single player games, they look to them like people did for bioware, yes mass effect had MP but people remembered it for the SP, they already said it lacked rpg elements in the first one, imagine what they could do if all they focused on was SP

 

[devivre]

There are ways to make it work, as long as you design both modes independent from each other. I usually prefer to play alone, but as long as the multiplayer mode stays separate from singleplayer (ideally, the multiplayer requires a separate installation so the game size doesn’t grow too much and updates don’t get too annoying…), I don’t mind.

Having daily and weekly multiplayer missions could definitely be fun for a lot of people, for example.
It just should not affect the single player experience…

 

[Reaper290816]

It just should not affect the single player experience…

As I said in my post even if they spend 900 hours working on the SP and then 100 in the MP, that's 100 hours they could have put to make the SP better. I know CDPR fixed cyberpunk in the end but they already had their focus split for that and the game came out broken and buggy, you can say with did for many reasons but I can't help but think if they focused on SP from the beginning many of the issues wouldn't have happened since they wouldn't have wasted time

 

[LeKill3rFou]

I know CDPR fixed cyberpunk in the end but they already had their focus split for that and the game came out broken and buggy, you can say with did for many reasons but I can't help but think if they focused on SP from the beginning many of the issues wouldn't have happened since they wouldn't have wasted time

To be honest, I don't think "multiplayer" have anything to do with the state of the game at release, nor prevented them to fix the game sooner/quicker

 

[Tarille]

As I said in my post even if they spend 900 hours working on the SP and then 100 in the MP, that's 100 hours they could have put to make the SP better.

Unless that 100 hours working on MP was done by a different team that was not part of developing the SP and never would have been...

Or if that 100 hours working on MP was done AFTER they've completely finished working on the SP - Like, they've quite literally finished everything and got it all polished up and perfected.

It is not always the case that everything is competing for resources.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, CDPR is not just one singular studio anymore. It is 2 separate major studios, plus some smaller studios, plus they've even outsourced to other studios for certain projects.

It is entirely possible that they can have different teams working on the SP and MP so no competing resources.

It is also entirely possible that they can manage their workflow properly, so that the SP gets full care and attention and only after their main focus of the SP is finished, they start working on a MP aspect (CP2077's release would be a big argument to whomever made the executive decision to force it out that "Release it when it's done" is far better than "Hit some quarterly target")

As such, it's not a guarantee that the existence of MP necessarily impacts the SP portion of a game.

 

[Reaper290816]

To be honest, I don't think "multiplayer" have anything to do with the state of the game at release, nor prevented them to fix the game sooner/quicker

Did they originally plan to give it multiplayer? yes
Did the game release buggy? Yes
If they had put all their focus on the game and wasted no time at all on the MP would the likely have released better? Yes because their focus wouldn't have been split, do I have proof of this, nope but thinking of if logically it would make sense since they wouldn't have had to worry about the MP in the slightest, heck with the lack of distraction might've even been able to implement more of those rpg elements they keep saying cyberpunk lacks. If they came into work and spent any time of the MP instead of the SP I would say that is affecting the SP, fact they dropped the MP to focus on the game entirely also tells you they figured it was pointless and a distraction that would prevent them from perfecting the game

Post automatically merged: Sep 24, 2025

Or if that 100 hours working on MP was done AFTER they've completely finished working on the SP - Like, they've quite literally finished everything and got it all polished up and perfected.

As such, it's not a guarantee that the existence of MP necessarily impacts the SP portion of a game.

Before or after, those 100 hours could rather be spent perfecting the SP, not everything needs an MP, if I found out they trashed the MP to perfect the SP, I'd be delighted but if I found out the SP lacked some features or didn't get as much attention because of the MP, I wouldn't be happy, think many would agree.

Granted they could have different studios working on the MP and SP but I'd rather they have everyone trying to give us the absolute best SP possible than waste any time at all on an MP. If they are splitting their focus to work on the MP at all instead of just putting everything into the SP, I would say that's an impact, can call me childish or ignorant but I would actually be happier knowing sequel won't be getting an MP at all because it means all their focus, priority and man power is being put into giving us the absolute best SP experience possible, no distractions, no splitting their team, resources or delegating time, if it's 2 studios working on it, rather have those 2 studios working on the SP

 

[LeKill3rFou]

Did they originally plan to give it multiplayer? yes
Did the game release buggy? Yes

Let's take your reasoning but about The Witcher 3 :
> Did they originally plan to give multiplayer? no
> Did the game release buggy? yes
I'm sorry, but assuming the game would have been less buggy (or in a better state) if they didn't plan to implement multiplayer feature is a kind of shortcut and doesn't make sense...

PS : They scrapped all thr work they did on multiplayer because it was likely extremely difficult (Red Engine was never intended to run multiplayer) and they decided to switch on Unreal Engine, so it would have been like working on something which doesn't have any future...

 

[Tarille]

Before or after, those 100 hours could rather be spent perfecting the SP

Except... If they've LITERALLY DONE EVERYTHING THEY COULD POSSIBLY DO FOR THE SP... Then decide to spend some time working on MP...

Then it has 0 impact on the SP.

Why is it so hard to grasp the concept that people can work on other projects after completing something?

Should we cry about how their plan to release other games after CP2 is "Taking away resources from perfecting its SP"? No, because those are done AFTER that particular project has been completed.

At worst such project management might delay the release of the SP game, if the MP is integrated into it and is desired to be included on release (Which is a lot of "Ifs", most of which are not likely. It's more likely that if any MP is made after the SP it'd either be a standalone release, or would be added some time after the SP release)

Granted they could have different studios working on the MP and SP but I'd rather they have everyone trying to give us the absolute best SP possible than waste any time at all on an MP.

You ever heard of the phrase "Too many cooks"?

It's not simply the case that you can just throw more people at something and it becomes more developed.

In a lot of cases you literally cannot share work. Like, if "Dev A" is creating a model for a character... Then having "Dev B" also model that character is redundant because they cannot work on the same model simultaneously.

In the scenario where they have another team work on a MP title, they'd otherwise be completely uninvolved in anything CP2 related and likely would be working on a completely different project instead, like another Witcher spinoff.

Thus there is literally no "Wasted time" in developing the SP as they using otherwise uninvolved resources to create something tangentially related to the SP (In that it partakes in the same universe and may share some base code and assets)

Ergo, there are ways that MP for the next Cyberpunk game can be developed, where there is NO impact at all on its SP. Thus it's not a forgone conclusion that MP existing is necessarily a detriment to the SP, it would only be so if they choose to work in a way that takes away from the SP. To which they have shown no inclination towards (In fact, they outright said they will continue prioritizing SP experiences)

 

[Reaper290816]

Except... If they've LITERALLY DONE EVERYTHING THEY COULD POSSIBLY DO FOR THE SP... Then decide to spend some time working on MP...

If the game releases buggy (which seems many games today have been, released before they are ready) then that's not everything and considering both Witcher and cyberpunk released broken CDPR in particular need to make sure it doesn't release buggy. Not to mention if they've done everything that mean no need for patches, no need for updates, no need for them to do anything more for it which we both know is impossible, so the concept of them having done everything they could possibly do for the SP is very unlikely

Then it has 0 impact on the SP.

Why is it so hard to grasp the concept that people can work on other projects after completing something?

If they want to work on it after fine but again that means they are working on something instead of making sure the game is perfect, idk about you but I'd rather they release a non buggy game than be given a buggy game and be told, we are sorry but the MP is coming. literally for the first game exact same thing happened, they split their focus, game released bad and instead of working on MP they had to focus on SP, let's just stop with the MP all together and focus entirely on SP, even cyberpunk now isn't perfect or what they promsied

(In fact, they outright said they will continue prioritizing SP experiences)

What CDPR says and what they do are 2 seperate things