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CD Projekt Red says the fact its new Boston studio is working on the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 means it’s likely to be more authentically American.
Development of the sequel, which is codenamed Project Orion, is being headed by CD Projekt Red’s North American arm, which has studios in Boston and Vancouver.
In the latest episode of the studio’s AnsweRED podcast (as spotted by Wccftech), acting executive producer Dan Hernberg said it was appropriate to have the sequel be developed in Noth America.
“I think Cyberpunk is obviously a uniquely American story,” he said. “It’s got a lot of like punk energy, and it was written by an American, so it just seems right to do it in America.”
Associate game director Paweł Sasko then gave an example of one situation in which Cyberpunk 2077 didn’t feel American enough.
According to Sasko, the first game’s manhole covers looked more like those used in parts of Europe, instead of the US where the game was set.
“Like, the manholes that are covering the roads, right?” Sasko said. “There was this post [on Reddit] with the guy saying that there is this immersion-breaking bug in Cyberpunk, and the bug was about the fact that the covers for the manholes for the sewers were the manholes that you use normally in Europe, in Germany, for a pavement.
“Those are not manholes that you normally cover in America on the streets. This is basically showing you the differences, right?
“When you go to America, there’s things like hydrants, where they are placed and what they look like. The street lights, the positions of that, the trash bins, right? They’re in the front of the house, right by the street.
“In Poland, in Europe, you don’t see them almost anywhere. There’s so much nuance. Dan, when we talk about it, he calls it Americana.”
Cyberpunk 2077 survived a disastrous launch period, turning its fortunes around.Hernberg added: “Our curbs are different, our color is different on all of our signs. Everything’s just slightly different.
“It doesn’t break immersion, but it’s just that little thing where you’re like, ‘well, maybe this wasn’t made by people who live here or people who fully understand all of American culture.'”
Earlier this year CD Projekt Red announced the appointment of a number of veteran developers to work on its Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, including Hernberg, who had previously served as head of production at both Amazon Games and Panic Button, and lead product manager at Blizzard.
Core team members behind Cyberpunk 2077 and its Phantom Liberty expansion moved to North America to lead development on the follow-up.
