Best Ongoing Game Winner ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ Ends Development

CDPR has released one of their famous “here’s what we’re working on” graphs, showing the breakdown of the company across various projects. And one thing is missing from the list: Cyberpunk 2077, which for the first time since years before launch, has zero people working on it. Development has officially ended after some minor post-Phantom Liberty patches.

You can see the graphic below, but the breakdown is as follows

• The Witcher 4 (it probably won’t be called that) – 407 employees
• Cyberpunk 2077 Sequel – 56
• Witcher Multiplayer Game – 39
• New IP – 20

CDPR has said that they want to now develop its larger games simultaneously rather than focusing only on one causing yawning gaps between releases. Though one has to wonder with the full weight of CDPR behind the Cyberpunk launch, releasing in the state it did, if that’s viable. And these games, whether The Witcher or Cyberpunk, are massive in the grand scheme of the industry.

Cyberpunk 2077 ceasing development is just a little bit funny given that it just won Best Ongoing Game at The Game Awards in 2023. There were debates about what constitutes an “ongoing” game, and I think it’s just a bad category. There are “live” games, things like Fortnite or Genshin Impact that continually add seasons and content indefinitely. But there are also “most improved” games that work hard to turn things around with big patches, content drops and expansions like Cyberpunk, even if they’re not meant to live forever.

I think Cyberpunk should have won some sort of award, but it was an awkward year. Phantom Liberty isn’t really a full game, though it’s the size of one, and it wasn’t going for GOTY. Though Cyberpunk didn’t really fit into the “ongoing” category either. But it won because anyone who had played Cyberpunk in its current state would agree it deserves to win something.

As for The Witcher 4, we don’t know much about it other than it’s not really supposed to be The Witcher 4, a continuation of Geralt’s story, but rather focusing on a new school and new characters (though I have to assume some old favorites will at least guest star). The Witcher 3 was out in 2015, so it’s going to be over a decade until this sequel arrives, given how close to production start we still are.

Whatever CDPR does next, hopefully they will be in 2023 Cyberpunk mode not 2020 Cyberpunk mode and produce the industry-best games we know they can make, in the right circumstances.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.