In a recent interview, CD Projekt RED provided a few additional details about the Cyberpunk 2077 expansion, Phantom Liberty, as well as pricing expectations. It's been quite the past few months for both CD Projekt RED and its sci-fi action RPG. After the disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077 forced CD Project RED to essentially scrap its post-launch plans in order to fix the game, the studio has managed to significantly change people's perceptions thanks to all of the updates.
Part of the resurgence of Cyberpunk 2077 can be attributed to the success and positive reception to Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners anime on Netflix. In fact, following the release of the anime series, the game's player count jumped by 300% and the user reviews on Steam have even reached 90% positive for the first time. Capitalizing on the reinvigorated community and positive word of mouth, CD Projekt RED announced the game's first, and likely only, expansion called Phantom Liberty.
While Cyberpunk 2077 was originally set to get multiple expansions as well as an open world multiplayer offshoot, CDPR's plans were essentially scrapped to allow dev teams to focus on fixing the core game experience. However, with the game now in a much better place, the developer is taking the opportunity to continue the game's narrative through Phantom Liberty. Outside of an announcement trailer, not much is known about the experience besides seeing Johnny Silverhand returning and the phrase "spy thriller" being used to describe it.
Recently, CDPR's global PR director Radek Grabowski provided a few more details in regards to the Cyberpunk 2077 expansion pricing. While a specific number has not been decided on, CD Projekt RED is positioning Phantom Liberty to be a premium expansion along the lines of Blood and Wine or Hearts of Stone. Grabowski also went on to say that the studio's expansions are traditionally cheaper than full priced games, so it'll likely be something similar, if not more, than the $19.99 price tag of Blood and Wine, which was a fairly large and ambitious expansion for The Witcher 3.
While CDPR did reaffirm that Phantom Liberty will be the only planned expansion for Cyberpunk 2077, it won't be the last story told in that universe. The studio recently announced a bunch of game projects it has in various stages of development. One of these titles, Project Orion, was confirmed to be a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 being developed by the core team at CD Projekt RED. The game itself is very early on, but CDPR has already stated that Project Orion would "prove the full power and potential of the Cyberpunk universe."
Cyberpunk 2077 is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Phantom Liberty is set to release in 2023.
Source: GamesRadar+