With its provocative imagery and moody music (Archive’s “Bullets”), the debut trailer for CD Projekt Red’s upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 made quite an impression when it was unleashed yesterday. It’s a great teaser that left fans of the developer’s previous work — namely The Witcher and its sequel — understandably excited, even though the game itself is, regrettably, far from completion.
As it turns out, there is more to the trailer than meets the eye — or, at least, more than meets most eyes. The trailer ends with the message “See what else CD Projekt Red is up to. More info on 5 Feb 2013.” In fact, there is “more info” on that very subject hidden right in the Cyberpunk 2077 trailer.
It’s true. A “secret message” from the developers at CD Projekt Red (discovered by NeoGAF user Peace Walker) hides on a single frame near the end of the trailer. Of particular interest is news that the CD Projekt team will soon reveal another ”fully open-world game with an intense story” that is ”much closer to being completed” than Cyberpunk 2077. The message further states that readers “can probably guess the game we’re talking about.” Seriously, now – could it be anything other than The Witcher 3?
Check out the “secret message” for yourself (click to enlarge). It can be a bit tough to read, so the full text is transcribed below the image.
Do you like our latest creation? We certainly hope so! You may remember that we sometimes send you guys secret messages like this. It’s a great way for us to speak right to you instead of burying ourselves in corporate mumbo-jumbo. So let’s begin!
First of all — have you noticed all the details in our teaser (yes, it’s a teaser. We’ll make a proper trailer in the future)? If you know the Cyberpunk setting, there are some things you can spot, like implants — look for the weapon hands and the real skin — corporate emblems that should look familiar, and more. Happy hunting!
You’re probably curious about the release date. It’s currently scheduled a way off, in 2015. But in truth, the delivery date is more like, “when it’s done.” We will release Cyberpunk to you when we’re convinced it is nothing but pure, refined, unadulterated awesome. We want it to be the most kick ass futuristic RPG ever — OK, maybe this sounds pretty bully, but it is our actual goal! You judge if we deliver it!
Oh — and you may wonder why we announced our game so early before the release. The reason is that we’re still building our dev team. So if you are a talented dude or dudette, willing to work in a really different company (gamers rule & boring corporate stuff drools!) on a super ambitious project, send us your application right now: careers@cdprojektred.com
So, you want to know what kind of game Cyberpunk 2077 will be? The short description is that it will be a story-heavy, nonlinear, open world RPG based on the well known Cyberpunk pen&paper system and setting. Building open world games is something we are mastering right now, and we believe that properly joining nonlinear gameplay with an excellent story telling will bring a totally new quality. Hmm… we’ll tell some more about it soon!
And that’s not all that’s new. We are about the reveal our other project, which is much closer to being completed, and it will also be a fully open-world game with an intense story. You can probably guess the game we’re talking about. On the 5th of February, it will be all clear.
So stay tuned, as we will have quite a lot to show and tell you soon!
We are waiting for you on our newly created forum called Afterlife — what other name could we have chosen for it?
CD Projekt Red Team
If, as the “secret message” states, Cyberpunk 2077 has an ETA of 2015, it’s definitely not going to appear on any of the current-gen consoles (despite what Sony says about supporting the PS3). But what about the other game, set to be revealed on February 5th? Depending on how close to completion it actually is, there may yet be a chance that — let’s just call it what it is — The Witcher 3 could land on current hardware, or maybe arrive as a launch title for Xbox 720 and PS4 (unless, of course, it turns out to be PC only). Which would you prefer, Ranters?
Which game are you more excited about, Cyberpunk 2077 or The Witcher 3? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and remember to check back on February 5th for CD Projekt Red’s big reveal.
Cyberpunk 2077 is currently in development.
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I’m still playing The Witcher 2. It’s hard.
@Chris – Not hard at all. You just need to invest in the appropriate skill trees and master the rolling & striking, and it becomes pretty easy actually. ‘Demon’s Souls’ — Now that’s hard
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its not hard even if you don,t invest in thoes im all about the sword tree
I’ve heard DS is really tough, but I haven’t heard if its any fun, or what form the difficulty takes other than a lack of hand holding. I am all for challenge, and I play almost all games on hard, but sometimes challenge is built through artificial and deeply frustrating means. For instance the hard core Japanese crowd likes to have unforgiving mechanics and then throw in stuff like no checkpoints or severely limited save systems, which I just find irritating. Difficulty should be achieved through many carefully balanced nuances, in my opinion, and some games that are called hard are mostly just a pain in the ass. Some developers think that Hard Mode means that every scratch is lethal, enemies are supernaturally accurate and hit points are tripled for monsters. Weak attempt at difficulty spiking. I hope that DS is better because I want the challenge, but it has to still be FUN. Any thoughts?
the reveal will be just that. they’ll just be giving the details on witcher 3 and my guess is it will come out on pc mid to late this year and be ported to the 360 sometime later (like witcher 2) for next gen (since this gen is probably going to end by christmas).
Witcher 3 needs to be set in the Empire down south. Come-on CDPR! show us Mahakam & Nilfgaard already!!
So much about the Witcher 2 was cool and impressive, despite sometimes feeling like a small, mostly linear set of Skyrim quests in a barely-open-world-at-all setting. It was unique and beautiful and adult oriented, and I liked almost everything about it’s rich world and book-born complex mythology. I expect to replay it to tie up loose ends and branching paths. Still, the terrible menus were not the worst of many problems. It was far too easy to find yourself stuck in a loop, wasting time. For example, before a big dragon fight I had to wait a few minutes to recharge my health, then set up my inventory with the ideal consumable bombs and side weapons, (creating a few if I was low), then I buffed my character for battle with some potions, traded my weapon for a more appropriate one, and I was finally ready for battle… Only now I can’t save it. So when the battle seems a little obtuse, or I miss the critical que of the boss’ attack pattern, or I just blow the attempt, I am suddenly back to the moment where I have to start all over again waiting, adjusting, rearming etc. More time was spent rerepairing and loading than actually playing the game sometimes! Infuriatingly pointless! Not challenging or relevant retreading, just menu work and time wasted while what could have been one of the best parts of the whole game turns gradually into a huge drag that suck out all the fun. Ridiculous design error, in my opinion, and it makes it hard to love the game for all it’s many strengths. I am left hoping that the sequel doesn’t drive me so crazy when I inevitably play it.
Still, I gave W2 a positive review on my blog, and also blasted it’s terrible save system in the article “Save Me!”. So if anyone happens to care about that, then please click my name and enter my site where you are welcome to peruse my work. Otherwise, just be warned about that frustration factor if you choose to play W2, and keep your copy of Skyrim handy in case you can’t stand the aggravation. In retrospect, playing on hard may have been a mistake (because of the design flaw), but it’s hard to play anything on normal these days and feel challenged. Something worth considering though…