In open-world gaming, developers always go with the mindset that their new project has to feature a bigger world than their previous one did, which has led to conflicting results. But, CD Projekt Red won’t take the “bigger is better” approach with Cyberpunk 2077, as it’ll have a smaller world map than CDPR’s previous open-world title, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
While some fans might find it disheartening that Cyberpunk 2077’s world will be smaller than The Witcher 3’s, the developers have promised a much denser, and more intricate open-world than in their previous title.
CD Projekt Red dev Richard Borzymowski talked about Cyberpunk’s world in comparison to The Witcher 3’s during this past week’s Gamescom event, where he said: “it’s basically — you take the world of The Witcher and you squeeze it right in.” He also added that the game is supposed to have more of a humane crunch than in The Witcher 3, which is why the world is going to be smaller.
Also during this past week’s Gamescom event, Borzymowski explained why Night City, which is where most of Cyberpunk 2077 will be set in, has to be denser than any of their other worlds: “Night City is an integral part of the setting; it’s essentially a protagonist if you want to call it that, so it has to be denser.”
It was also recently revealed that, for the most part, players will be able to enter and explore every building they see in Night City, which is rarely the case with any other open-world titles. Even more linear single-player experiences don’t allow players to explore every part of the world that they’ve created, so this will likely be a welcomed addition to open-world gaming. Also, if it’s done well, it could convince other devs to stop focusing on size, and start focusing on quality and detail.
CD Projekt Red is planning on showing more gameplay from Cyberpunk 2077 on August 30 at 11 AM Pacific, 2 PM Eastern. During the stream, the developers will show footage taken from their behind-closed-doors demos at both E3 2019 and this past week’s Gamescom. The stream will show approximately 15 minutes of brand new gameplay footage.
As for what the stream could offer, well, CDPR has promised that it’ll give players better insight into the process behind their creative decisions, information regarding the districts in Night City, and much more information on the various playstyles that you’ll be able to implement once the game launches next spring.
