Cyberpunk 2077 is just a few months away from release, with the developers releasing trailer after trailer to cover the game’s many features. During the latest Night City Wire event, Cyberpunk’s story length was also discussed, and it is surprisingly not as long as The Witcher 3.
In a panel following a trailer detailing the many gangs of Cyberpunk, senior quest designer Patrick Mills opened up about the game’s story length. He stated that the "main story run in Cyberpunk 2077 is slightly shorter than The Witcher 3," with the key word being slightly. The game will certainly not be brief, but it will be a bit shorter than the studio’s previous RPG. According to HowLongToBeat, The Witcher 3’s main story, if ran through directly, was roughly 50 hours for an average player. This could mean the story for Cyberpunk 2077 is somewhere around the 40-hour mark.
The reasoning for this is none another than fan complaints. Player encounters with Cyberpunk’s rogue AI may come in a bit shorter than their search for Ciri simply because CD Projekt Red "got a lot of complaints about The Witcher 3’s main story just being too long." Mills goes on to state that many, many players got far into The Witcher 3 but never actually completed its lengthy main narrative, a clear indication to the developers that the game was just too lengthy. With a shorter story, the team can ensure more players see the game’s core content.
Mills ensures that a shorter story length does not indicate a smaller game, however, as players will still have plenty of content to play through. He also reiterates the extremely deep RPG mechanics of Cyberpunk 2077, with Cyberpunk’s unique lifepath system being a clear indicator of how deep the game will be. With so many choices to make and so many different playstyles available, the game should be more replayable than The Witcher 3.
With the story for Cyberpunk possibly clocking in at about 40 hours, it is clearly still a massive game. Cyberpunk also features 75 deep side quests, which if completed will greatly add to the length of a playthrough. Cyberpunk 2077 may be a bit shorter than the Witcher 3, but for some players, that may be a positive. With the game being aimed at an older audience that often includes people with jobs, families, and other commitments, 40 hours seems like a more manageable game length than The Witcher 3's 50 hours. While both Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 are long games, the former being slightly shorter is not necessarily a bad thing.
Cyberpunk has a lot of hype to live up to, especially with Witcher 3 being one of the most played games ever made. Cyberpunk’s length should assure fans they will have plenty of story to sink their teeth into, even if it is a tiny bit less content than their previous game.
Cyberpunk 2077 will be available November 19th on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It will also be available for PS5, Stadia, and Xbox Series X at a later date.
Source: HowLongToBeat