Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty has the biggest expansion budget in CD Projekt Red’s history

Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty expansion has the biggest budget for additional CD Projekt Red content yet. Speaking to Polish financial newspaper Parkiet, the developer’s head of investor relations Marek Bugdoł suggested it was the biggest expansion in the studio’s history in terms of budget. The executive also said the company feels “comfortable” with the current work cycle on Phantom Liberty. Development on Cyberpunk 2077 was rushed to meet the 2021 launch date, which led to myriad technical issues at launch.

Although not explicitly mentioned, some portion of the budget increase could have been used to cast Idris Elba (The Suicide Squad, Molly’s Game) in a major role in the Phantom Liberty expansion. He plays Solomon Reed, an FIA agent for the “New United States of America”, a faction to which the player character, V, pledges allegiance. Plot details are scarce, but a September teaser revealed Keanu Reeves would reprise his role as the magnetic Johnny Silverhand, who finds V’s new oath a “bad idea.” Expect tons of dead government officials, new characters, and an electric whip as you embark on a “mission impossible” of espionage and survival in Cyberpunk 2077’s upcoming expansion.

On the official Cyberpunk 2077 subreddit, there was a bit of a misunderstanding among the members, who believed that Phantom Liberty was the “biggest expansion” in CD Projekt Red’s history – before Parkiet’s report was updated. . However, Community Manager Marcin Morton rose to the occasion and clarified that it was simply the biggest budget. “I just wanted to point out that this part is about the biggest budget as far as the expansion packs we’ve released. We will talk more about the details related to the scope of the game in the future,” reads his comment. Currently, CD Projekt Red’s largest paid expansion, in terms of scope, is The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s Blood and Wine, which added approximately 40 hours of gameplay to the base game.

As previously stated, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty will be a paid expansion. Although pricing has yet to be set, CDPR felt it necessary to clarify the details as the studio is known to have dropped several add-on content for its titles. Free content is called “DLC”, while long-term developed content is called “extension”.

Long-running interest in Cyberpunk 2077 spiked after the Netflix anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners premiered – at one point attracting a million players daily, across consoles and PC. Of course, part of this resurgence had to do with the developers fixing a lot of technical issues that prevented players from having a good experience on the streets of Night City. A similar spike was also seen with The Witcher 3 player counts after the Henry Cavill-directed live-action series dropped on Netflix.

The Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion will release this year on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X.

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