CD Projekt Red’s much-anticipated 2020 video game Cyberpunk 2077 had some high expectations to live up to due to the immense success of its predecessor, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Unfortunately, the game fell short of the mark and encountered massive criticism from both fans and gamers alike due to its numerous technical and performance issues.
Now, a key developer from CD Projekt Red has spoken out about the game’s design and admits that there was one specific design flaw that contributed to its lackluster performance. In an interview with Kotaku, senior quest designer Philipp Weber acknowledges that the game’s overall quest design was, in his words, ‘a lot more ‘main quest-driven’.’
According to Weber, this design forced players to follow a predefined path instead of having more natural, less scripted exploration. Players had to go through a linear main storyline before experiencing the game’s open world where they were free to pursue more side content. This broke the game’s pacing and made it too scripted and uninteresting.
The developer’s acknowledgement of this key design flaw offers some insight into why the game experienced such problems. At the same time, Weber’s comments may also serve to inform CD Projekt Red’s approach to future video game development. By potentially avoiding a similar issue in the future, the developer may be better able to produce the engaging and immersive experiences fans have come to expect from them.
All told, Weber’s comments offer an important glimpse into the design flaws of Cyberpunk 2077, as well as a potential solution for avoiding such problems in the future. Here’s hoping CD Projekt Red takes the necessary steps to produce another critically acclaimed video game in the future.
