On June 20, 2026, CD Projekt Red published a quarterly business update through its official investor relations channel, containing a piece of news that has captured the intense attention of the gaming community: Project Orion, the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, has officially transitioned from the concept phase into full pre-production. CD Projekt Red simultaneously confirmed that the project will be led by the company’s new North American studio, established in Boston in 2024. This marks the first time in CD Projekt Red’s history that the development leadership of a mainline title has been entrusted to a team outside its Polish headquarters.
The narrative direction of the sequel received official confirmation at this update. CD Projekt Red stated that Project Orion will continue the world established by Cyberpunk 2077, with the setting still rooted in Night City and the surrounding New United States region. The timeline will be pushed forward, and the story will feature an entirely new cast of protagonists. In a development blog published alongside the announcement, CD Projekt Red Narrative Director Marcin Blacha wrote: “With Phantom Liberty, we experimented with a more political-thriller tone of storytelling, and the feedback from players was overwhelmingly positive. The story of Project Orion will push further down this path, exploring the corners of Night City that have yet to be illuminated.” The blog also confirmed that the sequel will retain the perspective-switching system between first-person and third-person views, as well as the “Lifepath” character background mechanic, but will significantly expand the depth of branching options and the diversity of their consequences.
The Boston studio is a team purpose-built by CD Projekt Red for the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel. Officially established in early 2024, its core members include multiple veteran developers formerly of Bethesda, BioWare, and Arkane Studios. Studio head Ryan Boudreau previously worked at Arkane Austin on Prey and Redfall. Lead game designer Anna Megill was formerly a narrative designer at Remedy Entertainment, where she contributed to Control, and served as the lead narrative designer on Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. CD Projekt Red Joint CEO Adam Kiciński stated in the announcement that the formation of the Boston team is a key step in the company’s “multi-studio parallel development” strategy, aimed at building the capability for global development of its flagship IPs.
On the technical front, Project Orion will be the first major CD Projekt Red title built entirely on Unreal Engine 5, officially marking the company’s departure from its proprietary REDengine. REDengine was heavily criticized for performance optimization issues at the launch of Cyberpunk 2077. Although subsequent updates and the Phantom Liberty expansion brought significant improvements, CD Projekt Red had already announced in 2023 that all future projects would transition to Unreal Engine 5. The technical director of the Boston studio revealed in the development blog that the team is working closely with Epic Games to customize Unreal Engine 5 for the rendering demands of Night City’s high-density open world, including deep adaptation of the Nanite geometry system and Lumen global illumination.
Regarding a release window, CD Projekt Red did not specify a concrete year in the announcement, stating only that Project Orion is expected to be released between 2028 and 2029. This timeline is broadly consistent with previous hints the company has given at investor meetings. CD Projekt Red currently has several other projects in the pipeline, including The Witcher 4 — confirmed by the company for a 2027 release — and a multiplayer game codenamed Sirius. These three projects are being led by the Polish headquarters, the Boston studio, and a Montreal studio respectively, signaling that CD Projekt Red has formally entered a phase of multi-project parallel development.
Cyberpunk 2077 has traveled a long and winding road since its launch. The game suffered a reputational crisis at its initial release in December 2020 due to a large number of technical issues, but over the subsequent two and a half years, it steadily rebuilt itself through continuous updates and the Phantom Liberty expansion. As of June 2026, the combined global sales of the Cyberpunk 2077 base game and the Phantom Liberty expansion have exceeded 35 million copies, and its Steam user rating has stabilized above 85%. This turnaround from a disastrous launch to a widely acclaimed state has made the sequel, Project Orion, one of the most highly anticipated yet least detailed upcoming titles in the global games industry. With the official commencement of full pre-production, the next chapter of Night City has finally moved from blueprints to a tangible development track.
