Although Cyberpunk 2077 is held in much higher regard now than it was after its flawed 2020 launch, CD Projekt Red CEO Michał Nowakowski does not think the Polish developer has completed its “full redemption arc.”
Nowakowski said as much during an interview for Edge’s Knowledge newsletter (via GamesRadar), voicing hope that The Witcher 4 and any future titles from the studio can be what truly makes up for Cyberpunk 2077’s rocky launch. “I’m not 100 percent convinced we went through the full redemption arc,” Nowakowski told Knowledge. “I’m convinced that we lost the faith of some people indefinitely, and that’s a fair thing. But I do hope we will be able to make it back – if not with The Witcher 4, then with whatever comes next.”
When Cyberpunk 2077 launched in 2020, it was a massive disappointment because a bevy of technical issues and design restrictions left the game feeling underbaked at launch. While the game had a good narrative and gameplay core, features teased before release weren’t implemented properly, and you could rarely go ten minutes without encountering some kind of bug. As CD Projekt Red was coming off the beloved The Witcher 3, the backlash to this rocky launch was massive.
CD Projekt Red spent the next several years fixing and adding to Cyberpunk 2077. Through a series of updates, the game became much more stable across all platforms, and entire gameplay systems were reworked. This all culminated with the Phantom Liberty expansion in 2023, which received rave reviews upon launch.
Since then, CD Projekt Red has been developing several projects, including The Witcher 4 and a new Cyberpunk game. The generally positive anticipation of the next Witcher game suggests that CD Projekt Red has been redeemed in the minds of many players. Nowakowski’s comments suggest the developer still thinks it has some more work to do.
As for where Nowakowski would like CD Projekt Red to settle post-redemption, he explained, “Our dream is to be making more games, although we never want to turn into the studio that’s going to be launching a big game every year.”
The Witcher 4 does not currently have a release window.