Cyberpunk 2077 was supposed to be a greater game. With promises and ambitions well beyond the product we received, it had grand plans of online multiplayer, dynamic quests, better choices and consequences. The first of those seems to be coming to its sequel, at least according to a job listing.
Per a report by GameSpot, Cyberpunk 2 could receive an online multiplayer mode, something which was promised to us long ago prior to the release of 2077, which had to cut a lot of stuff, including this PVP spinoff. This came as a result of a chaotic development cycle, reports of crunch and overworking, and a release that went down horribly, to say the least.
In the years that followed, we received dozens of updates, a massive and fantastic expansion, Phantom Liberty, and countless improvements and fixes to all the game's underlying issues—but online multiplayer functionality never manifested, not so much as an Easter egg.
Now, a job listing has cropped up from one of CD Projekt Red's studios working on Cyberpunk 2, the clandestine sequel to 2077, which we have yet to see anything of. Among the many jobs listed as open, one stood out: Lead Network Engineer.
Cyberpunk being a singleplayer title, with the bulk of the networking handled by the platforms it's hosted on, one'd think it doesn't really need all too much network engineering—if it weren't implementing online multiplayer, that is.
The Lead Network Engineer's responsibilities revolve around managing a full team of engineers, as well as to “design, implement, and maintain scalable and efficient network architectures for online features; ensure low-latency, high-performance online experiences for players; ...develop and optimize multiplayer systems, including matchmaking, and address challenges related to latency, bandwidth usage, and server performance; stay up-to-date with the latest developments in network programming and online gaming technologies.”
So that's as clear-cut as it gets. The Lead Network Engineer will also be tasked with ensuring servers are deployed efficiently and properly, as well as integrating “seamless” online functionality. Seamless multiplayer is one of many things CDPR's R&D team has been working on for quite some time, earning itself a grant from the Polish government some years ago to pursue new and evolved technologies in that field.
Now, with Cyberpunk 2 almost certainly having a lot more time, money, and space to work efficiently, it wouldn't be surprising that it'd have all those features that had to be cut from 2077. God knows when the game will actually come out, though, so we'll have to wait quite a while to see what Cyberpunk 2 will be all about.
In the meantime, we'll have The Witcher 4 to worry about, which I wager is going to release by the end of 2027. Or so I hope and cope.
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The post A key cancelled feature for Cyberpunk 2077 seems to be coming to its sequel appeared first on Destructoid.
