Mike Pondsmith, the creator of the Cyberpunk series, has revealed why he chose CD Projekt RED to be the developer of Cyberpunk 2077. The rights to the series had been offered to several different studios, said Pondsmith, but only CD Projekt RED was able to show him that it would do a good job.

Speaking to Video Games Chronicle, Pondsmith said that CD Projekt RED is made up of "fans" of the Cyberpunk series who grew up playing the popular Cyberpunk 2020 board game. Pondsmith compared CD Projekt RED making Cyberpunk 2077 to " a bunch of guys who watched the Star Wars movies as kids and then got a chance to make a Star Wars game," saying that the team would "do the best damn job they could."

Pondsmith also said that CD Projekt RED is a team that "really cared" about the Cyberpunk series and that "the things that were important to us were important to them." Several developers had wanted the rights to the series, but many of them only saw the Blade Runner qualities and not the "weird, fun and dangerous, risky elements" such as how a lone gunner with an attitude like player character V could "change the world."

Cyberpunk 2077 is still several months away from release and so it is difficult to gauge just how closely the game keeps to the board game created by Pondsmith. However, it does seem to be making all of the right noises. Fans have been very glad to see that rockstar Johnny Silverhand will be in the game, as played by Keanu Reeves. The character of Silverhand isn't shy about his dislike of Night City's corporations and from the short amount seen of the character, that feeling will be in the game.

In the Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay reveal from Gamescom 2018, CD Projekt RED did show glimpses of V's attitude and how the player character can try to lie their way through quests. There have also been a few teases of V's quips and their raucous personality and it seems that keeping that was important to CD Projekt RED and Pondsmith.

CD Projekt RED has been working on Cyberpunk 2077 for several years and so fans of the developer and the board game will be hoping that it can pull this off. There's so much of the game that hasn't been confirmed yet, but Pondsmith's support for the developer speaks loudly.

Cyberpunk 2077 will be released on April 16, 2020 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Source: Video Games Chronicle