Cyberpunk 2077 developer says Phantom Liberty cannot erase troubled launch

CD Projekt Red's Paweł Sasko says the success of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty does not erase the problems surrounding the original game's 2020 launch. Reflecting on the expansion's third anniversary, he acknowledged the studio's difficult history while discussing what the team learned from developing it.

Sasko also celebrated Phantom Liberty surpassing 15 million copies sold, a milestone CD Projekt confirmed earlier in September. However, he emphasized that the lessons learned during development mattered more to him than the sales figures.

In a lengthy social media post, Sasko reflected on the challenges CD Projekt faced after releasing Cyberpunk 2077 in December 2020. He explained that the experience changed how he viewed the relationship between the development team's intentions and players' expectations. "I do not think Phantom Liberty erases the launch of Cyberpunk 2077, and I would never want to tell our story that way," Sasko wrote.

The original release suffered from widespread technical problems, particularly on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Performance issues, crashes and bugs led to criticism, refund requests and Sony temporarily removing the game from the PlayStation Store in December 2020.

CD Projekt spent the following years improving the game through patches and technical updates. The February 2022 next-generation update and September 2023's version 2.0 brought substantial improvements before Phantom Liberty helped renew interest in the RPG.

Sasko also explained how the studio changed its production methods while working on Phantom Liberty. The original game followed a more traditional development structure, with separate departments handling different stages of production.

For the expansion, CD Projekt introduced smaller multidisciplinary teams that brought writers, designers, artists, audio specialists and quality assurance developers together. According to Sasko, this approach helped departments collaborate more closely instead of passing work between separate teams.

The developers also focused on making player decisions more meaningful. Sasko explained that some consequences in the original game were difficult to recognize, prompting the team to create clearer narrative branches in Phantom Liberty.

Its storyline follows V through an espionage mission involving Solomon Reed and Songbird. Players face difficult decisions that affect the characters and lead to different outcomes.

CD Projekt confirmed on September 2 that Phantom Liberty had sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. The expansion reached that milestone less than three years after its September 26, 2023, release.

The company also reported that the base game had surpassed 40 million copies sold. Those figures reflect the franchise's continued commercial performance across multiple platforms.

Sasko expressed gratitude for the expansion's reception but placed greater emphasis on the development experience. He credited the project with teaching him about directing games, trusting colleagues and creating characters whose decisions carry meaningful consequences.

Sasko is now an associate game director on Cyberpunk 2, the next major entry in the franchise. CD Projekt confirmed that the sequel entered preproduction in May 2025, although it has not announced a release window.

His comments offer some insight into the development principles that could influence the next game. The studio has not detailed which systems or production methods from Phantom Liberty will carry over.

Sasko's anniversary reflection recognizes the expansion's commercial success while keeping the original launch problems part of the game's history. His current work on Cyberpunk 2 gives him an opportunity to apply those lessons to another project.