Cyberpunk 2 Could Keep Night City While Expanding Its World

Cyberpunk 2 is still in development, and recent comments from the director suggest the creative direction keeps shifting as more developers join the team. Nothing specific has been revealed about features, and no major changes have been confirmed, but the comments offer a decent look at the project's progress.

There are other reasons to watch the wider franchise too, including the arrival of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 and progress on a live-action film. Before going to the sequel, the question is whether Cyberpunk 2077 gets one more update.

Edgerunners 2 lands on Netflix on October 20, and having early access to the series doesn't confirm a game update. In 2022, CD Projekt Red released the Edgerunners update ahead of the original series. It added show-tied items and gigs players could find around Night City, letting fans carry a piece of the anime into the game.

The series also pulled a lot of fresh attention toward Cyberpunk 2077.

That timing made the update work especially well. It doesn't mean the studio will do the same thing now. An earlier update only shows what CD Projekt Red has done before, not what it has ready for the new series. Even a small addition could bring people back, like a cosmetic item or another detail that connects the show to the city.

The new episodes may be reason enough for fans to start another playthrough, but a modest update would give the two a little more in common. The bigger news is about Cyberpunk 2 itself. In a recent blog post, game director Gabe Amatangelo explained that the project's original vision is evolving as more developers contribute.

CD Projekt Red's Boston studio is growing, and the creative direction can keep evolving as new people bring their own ideas. That's a normal part of making a game, but it also means the finished product may not look quite like what anyone expects right now.

It's natural to imagine what a sequel might have: more cyberware, dangerous jobs, memorable characters, and a world that rewards getting lost in its streets. It may also nod to earlier events, depending on how the story connects to the last game. Those hopes are understandable, but they shouldn't become a checklist that boxes the developers in.

Some of the best features in games are the ones players never would have thought to ask for.

The Legend of Zelda series is one example of a familiar franchise that keeps surprising people. The jump from Skyward Sword to Breath of the Wild, and then to Tears of the Kingdom, showed how far a series can change its approach while still feeling like itself.

The sequel could benefit from the same willingness to experiment, whether through unusual mission design or new cyberware and netrunning mechanics that go beyond what players already know. An evolving vision doesn't automatically mean a bigger map, more detail, double the features, or a total change of direction.

It just means the game is still taking shape, and it's too early to say what its final form will look like. Think back to the first Cyberpunk 2077 teaser from 2013. Nobody could have pictured the finished game in any detail from that. The same uncertainty applies to the sequel, leaving the developers room to take it somewhere unexpected.

One of the biggest questions around Cyberpunk 2 is whether Night City stays the main setting. Talk has circulated about a possible second city described as "Chicago gone wrong." That comparison has sparked speculation about a new location, but it doesn't confirm the city is actually Chicago, nor does it say how much of the game would happen there.

Earlier comments from Cyberpunk creator Mike Pondsmith suggested another city could show up while Night City remains part of the sequel.

Put together, those remarks point toward more than one location, not a confirmed move away from the familiar streets. Keeping Night City while adding a different city could let the sequel build on what already works without repeating itself. Night City has a strong identity, and a new protagonist or story could make its streets feel different.

A second location could also show how corporate influence, opportunity, and everyday pressures play out somewhere else in this universe. It might bring a new atmosphere and a distinct population, rather than just one more huge map to clear.

There's no confirmation that both locations would be equally large open worlds, or that players would spend the same amount of time in each. The structure could end up closer to The Witcher 3, which moves between separate regions, each with its own scale and character. Until more is shared, the sequel's scope and layout remain unknown.

What matters most is how each location serves the story, not how many square miles the map covers. Amatangelo has also described cyberpunk as extreme dehumanization. That's his broader view of the genre, not a newly revealed synopsis for Cyberpunk 2, but it's a handy way to think about the themes the game might explore.

In this kind of world, people can be treated like products.

Their bodies become places for upgrades, their labor gets exploited, and their worth is judged by how useful they are to someone with power. Technology makes those systems visible, and their human cost is what gives the setting its meaning.

Cyberware can still deliver the spectacular abilities players expect, and the sequel can leave room for intense action. Those features could hit harder if the story also looks at what they cost. Missions, character relationships, and the choices players face could explore how people change or wear down when power and profit matter more than humanity.

That's also why bigger doesn't automatically mean better for a sequel. Phantom Liberty proved an expansion can feel tight and focused without burying players in size. Cyberpunk 2 can aim high and still deliver a cohesive story, polished systems, and a world people will want to return to.

A contained adventure with real replay value may leave a stronger mark than a sprawling game packed with features that don't fit together. A smaller idea, developed with care, can be more memorable than a grand mechanic that never quite works. The franchise is also growing beyond games.

Paramount is developing a live-action Cyberpunk movie, and CD Projekt Red's co-CEO has said the plan is to tell a new story set in the universe instead of retelling the game's events. So the film isn't being positioned as a straight adaptation of the existing plot.

It can introduce new characters and circumstances while drawing on the same setting.

The movie can show another side of the world without repeating a story players have already lived through. The original Edgerunners series proved that a fresh cast and a different narrative could explore the setting in its own way. If the film understands what makes this universe compelling, it can offer a new angle on its people, its technology, and its lopsided power structures.

For now, details are thin. A possible Cyberpunk 2077 update alongside Edgerunners 2 is unconfirmed; the sequel is still evolving as its team grows, and the live-action movie is expected to tell an original story within the same universe. None of that settles what comes next, but together these developments suggest the franchise has room to grow without leaning on a single story or one familiar location.