Cyberpunk 2 is Shaping Up to Be a Bigger RPG With a New City and Possible Multiplayer

CD Projekt Red is hiring to grow its development team and is working with Unreal Engine 5. Early details indicate new movement systems, a different city, and potential online features.

Cyberpunk 2 is still in pre-production, but new details on its development reveal CD Projekt Red has lofty plans for the sequel. The team has continued to grow since the project’s early stages, and the studio is gearing up to use Unreal Engine 5 instead of its proprietary REDengine.

There are also some hints of a second city, improved character movement, and possible multiplayer features, though some of these details are unconfirmed. You’ll probably have to wait a while for substantial gameplay, but the leaked information gives an early glimpse of what the studio could be planning.

Formerly known as Project Orion, Cyberpunk 2 is being developed by CD Projekt Red's North American team in Boston, with additional support from its Vancouver and Warsaw studios.

The project is still in its infancy, and so the developers are focusing on laying the foundations for the game rather than preparing a finished experience. This includes setting up its technical systems, ideas of gameplay, and overall direction. As development progresses, the team is expected to grow, and work will start on a more full version of the sequel.

Perhaps the clearest sign of progress is the steady increase in the number of developers working on the project. Reports claim the team had around 96 developers in April 2025 before growing to around 150 in February 2026. The reported number of developers had grown to 163 by April 2026. 

The team could become considerably larger in the coming years, although any estimates about its eventual size should be treated cautiously. But CD Projekt Red has not confirmed that number as its final goal, though some projections put it eventually between 350 and 500 developers.

The studio is also working on The Witcher 4, with reportedly over 500 developers on the project. As that project goes through development, some of its staff could transition over to Cyberpunk 2, bolstering the sequel’s production team. This potential shift could help CD Projekt Red expand development on both major franchises while managing its workforce more efficiently.

The developers who worked on it also have experience from the original Cyberpunk 2077 and its Phantom Liberty expansion. The project includes developers who know the franchise, including Phantom Liberty director Gabby Amitangelo. That experience could help the team build on the improvements introduced by the expansion, especially its storytelling, mission design, and character interactions. 

Another big change is the switch from RedEngine to Unreal Engine 5.

CD Projekt Red used its own engine to build the original Cyberpunk 2077, but it’s using technology from Epic Games for the sequel. The transition also sees CD Projekt Red working with Epic Games to improve the development of open worlds. Their work includes world streaming and animation systems that could be important for building a large city filled with pedestrians, vehicles, buildings, and interactive environments.

These technical improvements could help the studio to create a more detailed and responsive world, but the engine change doesn’t necessarily mean better performance. Usually, developers create huge open-world RPGs that need careful optimization. This is especially true in crowded environments and during complex character interactions.

The game's locations are another reason the sequel has attracted attention. Night City is expected to return, but Mike Pondsmith, the creator of the Cyberpunk tabletop universe, has also discussed another city that could appear in the game. He described its atmosphere as "Chicago gone wrong," although this description does not confirm that the developers are creating a literal futuristic version of Chicago. 

That difference could matter, as Night City has a unique visual style based on neon lights, skyscrapers, corporate power, and crowded streets.

A second city with a different atmosphere could have helped improve the sequel by offering more variety and a less repetitive world. Instead of just building more streets and buildings on top of each other, CD Projekt Red could build a location with its own social structure, visual identity, and relationship with advanced technology. 

There are several different ways the two cities could work together, but nothing concrete has been announced. The first city could offer large areas to explore, while the second city might have a more limited role in the campaign. The developers could also use the different locations to create various storylines and gameplay situations.

Listings for the development have also hinted at improvements to character movement and non-player character behavior. These systems could allow for a more natural feeling of movement through the world while giving cybernetic abilities a more prominent role in traversal.

In the original game, you can already upgrade your character with cyberware, including combat upgrades, reflex upgrades, and mobility upgrades. Maybe the sequel will develop these ideas even further and let the different cybernetic upgrades have more influence on your movement and interaction with the environment.

Better NPC locomotion would also probably make the world more believable, especially in crowded areas where characters need to react naturally to their environment.

More advanced animations could make combat and traversal feel smoother, and better movement systems could help enemies behave differently based on their abilities. Development listings have also suggested that the studio is exploring cinematic interactions that could allow you to retain some control during dialogue scenes. 

Another possibility is multiplayer, hinted at by the project’s recruitment listings. Some of the positions mentioned network engineering, matchmaking, latency, bandwidth, and server performance, all of which are generally associated with online multiplayer systems. The references have sparked speculation that CD Projekt Red could be considering some sort of multiplayer for the sequel. However, the studio has not confirmed that the game will have an online mode, and these technical requirements do not dictate the final product. 

If multiplayer is added to the game, it might open new ways to experience the cyberpunk setting, perhaps allowing players to explore together or work together on jobs. That would be up to CD Projekt Red, of course, to make sure any online features would augment rather than detract from the single-player experience.

Cyberpunk 2077 was promoted based on its narrative, characters, and V’s ability to influence the events of Night City. If the studio wants to expand the sequel beyond the confines of a traditional single-player RPG, maintaining those strengths will be crucial. The challenge will be introducing new gameplay possibilities without losing the personal stories and meaningful choices that made the original stand out.

There’s also been rumors of the possible return of Johnny Silverhand, but there’s no confirmation that the character will be showing up in Cyberpunk 2.

His involvement in the original game made him a major part of its story, and so his potential involvement continues to be the subject of speculation. However, the sequel could be a different direction for the franchise, and it’s too early to speculate about its characters or plot. 

So far, the most concrete progress includes the growing team, the move to Unreal Engine 5, and the studio's ongoing work on the technical foundations of the sequel. There's also the possibility of a second city to explore, in addition to Night City, and improvements to movement and character interaction could help make the world feel more responsive.

Ultimately, it seems like Cyberpunk 2 is turning into a big, ambitious sequel, but much of what fans are talking about is still just speculation. So the studio is growing and investing in new tech, which makes it look like it's setting the tone for a big RPG, but the scope and features remain unknown.

Until CD Projekt Red shows us more gameplay and confirms what it has in store, we can judge the sequel's potential more accurately. The studio's next updates should provide a clearer picture of how its plans are developing. For now, the best approach is to view these developments as early signs of where the sequel is headed, not as promises about what the finished game will include.