Cyberpunk 2077 sequel director says CDPR may "never" win some fans back, but hopes future games like The Witcher 4 will: "That's unfortunately the price we have to pay"

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Phantom Liberty, as well as The Witcher 4, Orion, and Hadar will hopefully do the talking for CD Projekt Red going forward

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(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

Reflecting on the notoriously poor launch of Cyberpunk 2077, devs at CD Projekt Red have been talking about how they can regain fans' trust going forward, and it sounds like they largely want their next works to do the talking. 

Speaking to Eurogamer, CD Projekt joint CEO Michał Nowakowski doesn't mince words when it comes to admitting just how disastrous Cyberpunk 2077's launch was for the company, noting that the perception of it from before that fateful release is something "we've probably lost forever," even if "you can repair some things" to an extent. He adds: "It's a certain perception of the company that's never going to come back. Is that good or bad? I don't know, but it's a fact."

Associate game director of the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, Paweł Sasko, adds that getting players back on board "might be a situation that never happens for some," and "that's unfortunately the price we have to pay for what happened." Even so, however, he seems to be remaining optimistic about the future. 

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"I hope that, throughout the work that we are doing, throughout the things we are showing, we can actually win some of those people around – and when they hear someone talking to them about the incredible experiences they can have in, let's say Phantom Liberty, or the next Witcher, next Cyberpunk, or next Hadar [CD Projekt's new IP], at the moment when they see there's that incredible value in that game, they will actually reach out for it, play it and enjoy it," Sasko continues, adding that there's ultimately "nothing we can say to convince anyone," but "There's just a moment when we need to show up."

Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty DLC was received far more positively than the base RPG initially was, so we'll just have to hope that CD Projekt Red can keep it up for those upcoming releases. We still don't know right now when we can expect the Cyberpunk sequel, new Witcher game, or totally fresh IP to release, but I'm sure that fans everywhere can agree that the devs should take all the time they need to make them as good as they can be.

Be sure to check out our roundup of upcoming CD Projekt Red games to see everything the Polish studio has in the works. 

Catherine Lewis
Catherine Lewis
Deputy News Editor

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.