'Cyberpunk 2077' Devs Have Sunk Millions Into Game's Next Expansion

Cyberpunk 2077 has been on quite the journey. From a late-2020 release dogged by performance problems, especially on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, to a title now finding fresh audiences after several patches and a dedicated new-gen version for Series X/S and PS5 in February 2022. It’s better now, is what we’re saying, than it used to be - indeed, I quite fancy checking it out again - and makers CD Projekt RED have more coming in the shape of a significant expansion to the game.

Cyberpunk 2077 recently passed a huge sales milestone - 18 million units shifted, its makers tweeted - and assured players that a large expansion for the game, comparable to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s pair of story-based DLCs, remained in development. This paid expansion is apparently one of CDPR’s major projects right now, with Forbes reporting that as of February 2022 the Cyberpunk 2077 DLC was where most of the company’s resources were focused, ahead of the recently revealed all-new game in the Witcher series.

Ever wonder what Cyberpunk 2077 would look like through a Borderlands lens...

Furthermore, a report on TweakTown shows just how much money CDPR has invested in its Cyberpunk 2077 expansion - which is expected to come out in 2023. $19 million was spent in 2021 alone, on the DLC and post-release patches. Add that to the development costs of over $120 million - which the game more than made back in pre-orders and day-one sales - and that’s a lot of money, huh. But then, between Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher series, CDPR makes a lot of money, too. Must be nice.

Cyberpunk 2077 was originally supposed to have a standalone multiplayer component, released after the main game’s launch. But in early 2021 this was moved way back on CDPR’s list of priorities, and it seems that whatever the game’s future DLC is, it’ll be single-player focused. It might be this forthcoming DLC isn’t one and done, too - The Witcher 3 received two major expansions, after all, so if Cyberpunk 2077 does indeed sell “for years”, fresh content could be coming out in 2024 and even 2025. Much depends on when resources fully switch to that ‘Witcher 4’ game we’re all so excited for.