Cyberpunk 2 Director Defends the Controversial Briefness of Act One

 

As of January 7, 2026, CD Projekt Red is celebrating the five-year anniversary of Cyberpunk 2077 with a series of community events and a look toward the future. Amidst this milestone, Igor Sarzyński, the Creative Director for the upcoming sequel (Cyberpunk 2, formerly Project Orion), took to social media on January 5 to address one of the most long-standing criticisms of the first game: its relatively short opening act.

The "Star Wars" Defense

Sarzyński explicitly rejected the popular fan sentiment that Act One should have been longer to allow for more bonding time with Jackie Welles. He argued that extending the prologue would have fundamentally damaged the game's pacing and narrative focus.

• The Tatooine Comparison: Sarzyński compared extending Act One to saying Star Wars should have spent more time with "farmer Luke" on Tatooine before he met Obi-Wan. "The opening chapter only exists to set up all the excitement that comes after," he stated.

• The Problem of Motivation: He noted that the early goal of "getting to the top" is too vague to sustain a prolonged experience. Without the stakes and "ticking clock" pressure introduced after the heist, Sarzyński believes the game would have felt "meandering and unfocused."

• "Pick Your Own Pace": The Director pointed out that Watson (the Act One area) actually contains up to 20 hours of content if players choose to do all side gigs and exploration. He believes the team "struck a good balance" by letting players decide how much time to spend in that phase. 

 

The "Cut Content" Myth

For years, fans have speculated that the six-month montage of V and Jackie’s adventures was originally playable content that was cut due to development time constraints. Sarzyński firmly denied this:

"No, the half-year montage is not cut content. We always planned it like this."

While the game famously had significant content removed prior to its 2020 launch, Sarzyński insists that a playable version of that six-month period was never on the table.

 

Cyberpunk 2: What We Know (January 2026)

With Sarzyński leading the sequel, his philosophy of "getting to the meat of the story" is likely to influence the next game's structure. Here is the current status of the sequel as of this week:

Metric	Current Projection
Release Window	Late 2030 (10th Anniversary)
Stage	Pre-Production / Full Ramping
New Location	A second city described as "Chicago gone wrong"
Estimated Budget	$419 Million (PLN 1.5 Billion)
Confirmed Tech	Unreal Engine 5 (moving away from REDengine)

Do you agree with Sarzyński that the "ticking clock" of the Relic is necessary for the game's pacing, or would you have preferred a full year of merc life with Jackie before things went south?