CD Projekt Aims to Refresh the Cyberpunk Setting

[Cognimancer]

CD Projekt Aims to Refresh the Cyberpunk Setting

Cyberpunk 2077 could shake up its namesake genre in the same way that The Witcher shook up medieval fantasy.

The cyberpunk genre has been through a bit of a renaissance lately. With the added popularity from being back in the limelight, some of the classic cyberpunk tropes are beginning to slip into the realm of the cliché - there's only so many times you can play the Corrupt Megacorporations card before it all starts getting old. This presents an ironic challenge for CD Projekt and their upcoming title Cyberpunk 2077 - a setting that once paved the way for its titular genre is now a predictable collection of familiar themes. Yet Adam Badowski, studio head at CD Projekt, isn't worried. It isn't the first time he's revitalized a tired genre.

"We're the owners of our IP," Badowski said in a recent interview, "so we're free to do almost anything with Cyberpunk and The Witcher. We're creatively independent. It's a good thing to have."

It's this freedom that allows the studio to steer seemingly familiar settings in interesting new directions. So far, CD Projekt has been successful in exploring the moral gray areas of high fantasy, and plans to continue that approach with Cyberpunk. "We always wanted to avoid good and evil scenarios," Badowski explained. "We have a lot of work ahead of us in that regard because the established plots for Cyberpunk - the wars between corporations, fighting against advanced AI, wars of energy sources, have already all been covered quite thoroughly ... In our opinion, though, nobody has shown Cyberpunk in the way that many people imagined it."

If CD Projekt's vision involves turning a few classic tropes on their heads, then as far as they're concerned, that's all the better. "We want to refresh this universe," Badowski said, "which means we have to have a new creative approach to things. We believe The Witcher taught us that we can handle it."

The trademark adult-fantasy approach utilized in The Witcher could be less effective in this new title, since moral ambiguity has always been a staple of Cyberpunk. Still, the folks at CD Projekt have proven to be masters of subverting expectations, so they may find a way to breathe new life into the IP yet. And even if not, the world still has room for another archetypical romp through traditional cyberpunk.

Source: Games Industry [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-03-07-cd-projekt-independence-is-a-crucial-part-of-a-our-strategy]

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[infohippie]

If anyone can do it, it's CD Projekt. I am very much liking forward to this.

 

[CriticalMiss]

I honestly can't think of a way to do cyberpunk without evil corporations or rogue cyborgs. I'll be interested in following the development even if I don't ultimately buy the end product, but if it's original enough I might actually consider it!

 

[lancar]

After The Witcher, I have full confidence in CD Projekt. It will be very interesting to see what they produce with this new IP.

 

[Abomination]

I wonder if they'll toss real-world religion into the field of play and handle it with the kid gloves off. They seem to be the only company that's willing on taking that kind of risk and they have the PR support and goodwill to survive any potential backlash.

 

[Jamous]

Very much looking forward to it. I wonder what they'll come up with as an alternative to corrupt corporations? SECRET LIZARD PEOPLE FORCING US TO BECOME MORE RELIANT ON TECHNOLOGY SO ThEY CAN TAKE OVER AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

[lacktheknack]

I wonder if they'll toss real-world religion into the field of play and handle it with the kid gloves off. They seem to be the only company that's willing on taking that kind of risk and they have the PR support and goodwill to survive any potential backlash.

Is that a ripe topic in Cyberpunk settings? I thought it was more into "the people versus the financial conglomerate".

 

[Abomination]

I wonder if they'll toss real-world religion into the field of play and handle it with the kid gloves off. They seem to be the only company that's willing on taking that kind of risk and they have the PR support and goodwill to survive any potential backlash.

Is that a ripe topic in Cyberpunk settings? I thought it was more into "the people versus the financial conglomerate".

Now, why would you ever think that modern religions are NOT financial conglomerates?

 

[1337mokro]

I don't like this. Not what CD is saying, but all the "CD can do it!" attitude. It's fine to be optimistic and all but please people. Stem your enthusiasm. Even the most beautiful sapphire can be a downer when you were imagining diamonds.

Calm down. So far we know that CD has made 2 good RPG's. They had their flaws, they were not perfect. They were just damned good. So don't expect more than damned good. Don't expect a revolution. Or you will be inevitably disappointingly let down by a good game because now you can only focus on what it could have been rather than what it is.

Once actual gameplay gets shown, once we see the world and the ways we can interact with it this is all just hot air. Not helped by CD's own enthusiasm mind you which might be tethering on Fandom just a bit to much for an artistic endeavour.

 

[hazabaza1]

The Witcher shook up medieval fantasy.

Sorry, when did it do that?
Was it around the time it was being so standard it hurt?

 

[Abomination]

The Witcher shook up medieval fantasy.

Sorry, when did it do that?
Was it around the time it was being so standard it hurt?

Everything is by comparison.

It was probably because it was this never-heard-before Polish developer that suddenly made a major splash in the fantasy marketplace with two titles that stood out on what they were willing to do with morality.

The setting of the game was pretty cookie-cutter, but the theme and mood of the game were striking differences.

 

[lacktheknack]

I wonder if they'll toss real-world religion into the field of play and handle it with the kid gloves off. They seem to be the only company that's willing on taking that kind of risk and they have the PR support and goodwill to survive any potential backlash.

Is that a ripe topic in Cyberpunk settings? I thought it was more into "the people versus the financial conglomerate".

Now, why would you ever think that modern religions are NOT financial conglomerates?

Because they have no noticeable sway in fiscally controlling day to day life, most religions use their donations to support missionaries/upkeep their faculties/donate to charity, and the only time we see "corrupt money" in play is around election time?

Why would you think they ARE? They're certainly not influential enough to justify inclusion and dissection in a cyberpunk game.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Oh look a half naked women, why am I not surprised. I guess hoping they have learned anything at all was a waste of time.

 

[Abomination]

Now, why would you ever think that modern religions are NOT financial conglomerates?

Because they have no noticeable sway in fiscally controlling day to day life, most religions use their donations to support missionaries/upkeep their faculties/donate to charity, and the only time we see "corrupt money" in play is around election time?

Why would you think they ARE? They're certainly not influential enough to justify inclusion and dissection in a cyberpunk game.

Directly financially as an organisation? No. But they certainly can affect those who run said corporations and the consumer.

Not every religion gains money in 'donations'. Quite a few resort to spiritual blackmail or indoctrination. When you're playing around with mind-altering technology it would only be natural said organisations make use of it.

Incredible technological advancement doesn't suddenly reduce the influence of religion on life... and those organisations are still going to have a lot of money.

 

[VoidWanderer]

I am... worried.

I had he same problem Yahtzee did with The Witcher 1, I couldn't get into The Witcher 2. I do notice that a lot of complaints people had about this game were fixed when they released another version of the game.

As much as I want this game to be good, I have never been impressed by The Witcher games, so my expectations for this game are lacklustre.

 

[lacktheknack]

Now, why would you ever think that modern religions are NOT financial conglomerates?

Because they have no noticeable sway in fiscally controlling day to day life, most religions use their donations to support missionaries/upkeep their faculties/donate to charity, and the only time we see "corrupt money" in play is around election time?

Why would you think they ARE? They're certainly not influential enough to justify inclusion and dissection in a cyberpunk game.

Directly financially as an organisation? No. But they certainly can affect those who run said corporations and the consumer.

Not every religion gains money in 'donations'. Quite a few resort to spiritual blackmail or indoctrination. When you're playing around with mind-altering technology it would only be natural said organisations make use of it.

Incredible technological advancement doesn't suddenly reduce the influence of religion on life... and those organisations are still going to have a lot of money.

If we pull Scientology out of the equation, then I'm not sure which religions you're referring to.

There's no "blackmail" in Zakat or other texts telling you to give money to the needy. I cannot think of a single religion that requires you to donate to the church or you'll go to hell (ignoring Scientology). Likewise, there's no "brainwashing" in telling your congregation they should give. If they believe their holy text is correct, and it says to give to the poor, then that is that.

If you're talking about specific churches and gatherings that actively use brainwashing and spiritual blackmail to squeeze money out of the followers, then you're dealing with "corruption", a dissection-worthy topic that goes far beyond mere religion. No religion is inherently corrupt in how it treats its followers (aside from, say, Scientology), they don't need to be "handled without kid gloves".

 

[lacktheknack]

Oh look a half naked women, why am I not surprised. I guess hoping they have learned anything at all was a waste of time.

They re-used the woman from the commercial. She just happens to be wearing a nightie. The point is that she has freaking scythes coming out of her arms.

Please tell me you're not going to dismiss the whole game because the promo poster has cleavage.