Cyberpunk 2077 Sequel Project Orion Has Night City and Another City That Feels Like ‘Chicago Gone Wrong,’ Mike Pondsmith Teases

CD Projekt’s Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, codenamed Project Orion, is a closely guarded secret, but that hasn’t stopped Cyberpunk creator Mike Pondsmith from teasing some previously unknown details.

Pondsmith, who worked closely with CD Projekt on the 30 million-selling Cyberpunk 2077 and was involved in promoting the game ahead of its 2020 launch, was asked about the scope of his involvement with Project Orion at the Digital Dragons 2025 conference.

Responding, Pondsmith admitted he wasn’t as involved this time around, but he does review scripts and had been to CD Projekt to check out the ongoing work.

“Last week I was wandering around talking to different departments, and seeing what they had, ‘Oh look, this is the new cyberware, what do you think?’ ‘Oh yeah, that’s pretty good, that works here.’ “

And then, the morsel of detail on the sequel: that it features a brand new city in addition to the Night City we know from Cyberpunk 2077. Pondsmith described this new city as “like Chicago gone wrong.”

“I spent a lot of time talking to one of the environment guys, and he was explaining how the new place in Orion, because there’s another city we visit — I’m not telling you any more than that but there’s another city we visit. And Night City is still there. But I remember looking at it and going, yeah I understand the feel you’re going for this, and this really does work. And it doesn’t feel like Blade Runner, it feels more like Chicago gone wrong. I said, ‘Yeah, I can see this working.”

It’s worth pointing out here that Pondsmith’s comments do not necessarily suggest the Cyberpunk sequel will feature a future Chicago, rather a city that has the feel of a dystopian version of the city. It may well be a take on future Chicago, but that isn’t confirmed based on these comments.

There is also already some debate about whether the Cyberpunk sequel will expand upon the Night City that’s in Cyberpunk 2077 or feature a new version, and the extent to which it is playable. There are a lot of unknowns, but it looks like there may be two fleshed out playable cities in this sequel.

While CD Projekt’s focus right now is The Witcher 4, it has a new studio set up in Boston to work on Project Orion. Earlier this year, CD Projekt said 84 of its 707 staff were working on Project Orion, which is still in the concept phase. Much can change, and we’re not expecting the game for some time.

There’s also a new Cyberpunk animation project on Netflix following the well-received Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. In the shorter term, Cyberpunk 2077 is set to launch on Nintendo Switch 2.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.