Cyberpunk 2077 dev will “leave greed to others” as online elements comments raise microtransaction worries

By Brenna Hillier

Cyberpunk 2077 is going to have online elements, but CD Projekt RED intends to show you a good time if you’re into old school single-player experiences.

Cyberpunk 2077 will be CD Projekt RED’s first triple-A release since the blockbuster success of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but we know very little about it – so every tiny snippet of comment the company makes comes under intense scrutiny.

In the midst of drama surrounding Star Wars Battlefront 2’s microtransactions, coming off the back of similar criticisms of Forza 7 and NBA 2K18 (among others), fans of single-player games were alarmed to hear CD Projekt CEO Adam Kiciński say Cyberpunk 2077 would have online elements.

“We want to experiment in new fields that were not yet explored in the Witcher … We want to go even higher, and especially seeing how we’re having a business chat, we’re interested in Cyberpunk being commercially even more significant,” he said, when asked about multiplayer in an interview with Strefa Inwesterowow.

“Online is necessary, or very recommended if you wish to achieve a long-term success. At some point, we have mentioned that there will be a certain online element related to Cyberpunk.”

Given Ubisoft, EA and Take Two are all minting it from microtransactions this year and almost every company seems to be jumping onboard in one way or another, this chat naturally raised concerns that Cyberpunk 2077 will go down the loot box route. Here’s what CR Projekt had to say about that theory:

“Worry not. When thinking Cyberpunk 2077, think nothing less than The Witcher 3 — huge single player, open world, story-driven RPG,” a tweet on CD Projekt RED’s official feed said.

“No hidden catch, you get what you pay for — no bullshit, just honest gaming like with Wild Hunt. We leave greed to others.”

.@PrettyBadTweets Worry not. When thinking CP2077, think nothing less than TW3 — huge single player, open world, story-driven RPG. No hidden catch, you get what you pay for — no bullshit, just honest gaming like with Wild Hunt. We leave greed to others.

— CD PROJEKT RED (@CDPROJEKTRED) November 19, 2017

The online elements comments were made in the same interview where Kiciński said CD Projekt RED hasn’t finished with The Witcher and reiterated Cyberpunk 2077 will be a bigger deal than The Witcher 3.

It isn’t the first time we’ve heard that Cyberpunk 2077 will have multiplayer of some kind. CD Projekt RED even secured $7 million in government funding for its open world multiplayer tech, which sounds awesome.

We have absolutely no idea when Cyberpunk 2077 will come out, but CD Projekt made so much cash on The Witcher 3 it can afford to spend plenty of time on its next big thing – especially if it does manage to one up what must be among the bestselling RPGs of all time.