Every so often, comparisons between The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 break out, as fans compare and contrast the two mammoth RPGs from CD Projekt Red. On the back of the latest round, a lead developer decided to shed some light on what makes the latter the more impressive project, at least when it comes to cinematics.
In this case, people are convinced Cyberpunk 2077 would've been better with some third-person cutscenes. Igor Sarzyński, cinematic director on the sci-fi RPG and senior cinematic designer on The Witcher 3, delivers an impassioned response on Bluesky.
"Doing third person cutscenes only sometimes would've been jarring af, I guarantee it," he writes. "And third person cutscenes for each scene is just, like, a completely different game."
He then points out that not having the power to use different angles in the way third-person allows is actually harder to implement. "Doing interactive, non-linear, real-time scenes with no cuts but camera, and often movement freedom is [three times] as difficult and expensive as doing old school cutscenes," he explains. "If we wanted to cut scope we would do [The Witcher 3] style scenes."
That's a bold statement, but then he shares a comparison between the editing bay of the largest scene in Geralt's third adventure, and the same for Cyberpunk 2077, and you can immediately see how much more complex it is. I'm a hobbyist video editor, and the layers and layers of effects and footage and whatever else in the Cyberpunk 2077 image would melt my brain.
btw
— @srznsk.bsky.social (@srznsk.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-07-01T16:10:05.008Z
This all really just goes to highlight how hard it is to understand the craft involved when you're simply looking at the finished product. Oftentimes, what might look simple to you is far from it behind-the-scenes, but the right people can make it look effortless. Whatever you may think, The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 were huge endeavors, and the devs deserve some respect for that.
