Featured Image Credit: CD Projekt Red
Topics: Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red
It's extremely likely that the next Cyberpunk 2077 game, currently codenamed Project Orion, is being developed with Unreal Engine 5. The original game runs on the REDengine 4, the most recent iteration of CD Projekt Red's inhouse game engine, and while this might not sound like a massive change, it's possible that Project Orion is a much more stable game than its predecessor once it releases.
In March, CD Projekt Red revealed that the next entry in The Witcher series was in development and marked a "new saga for the franchise." This, combined with the ending(s) of The Witcher 3 and the new medallion covered in the snow, seemed to suggest that the new game would not follow Geralt and might see Ciri striking out on her own. However, there was an additional detail in the announcement.
Check out the trailer for Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty DLC below!
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"This is an exciting moment as we’re moving from REDengine to Unreal Engine 5, beginning a multi-year strategic partnership with Epic Games," said the team. "It covers not only licensing, but technical development of Unreal Engine 5, as well as potential future versions of Unreal Engine, where relevant. We'll closely collaborate with Epic Games’ developers with the primary goal being to help tailor the engine for open-world experiences."
Most pertinently to Project Orion, the company said that the Phantom Liberty DLC would use REDengine 4, yet there's no mention of any future Cyberpunk DLC or games following the same trend. As such, Video Games Chronicle's Andy Robinson's comment that Project Orion will "almost certainly" be running on Unreal Engine 5 is verifiable.
Obviously, Cyberpunk 2077's launch was problematic to say the least, with glitches plastered all over the Internet before the game had even hit the shelves. CD Projekt Red's acquiescence to leave REDengine 4 behind and use Unreal Engine 5 for the foreseeable under this partnership might mean that the new Cyberpunk game is significantly stabler than the original, making sure that the mistakes of the past stay there.