"Oh my god, I can have a car in the game now": CD Projekt Red devs were thrilled at the "novelty" of modern tech after moving from Witcher to Cyberpunk 2077

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"Oh my god, I can have a car in the game now": CD Projekt Red devs were thrilled at the "novelty" of modern tech after moving from Witcher to Cyberpunk 2077 News By Moises Taveras published 12 December 2025

Don't take your cars or phones for granted, folks

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(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

Unsurprisingly, CD Projekt Red had to pull off a total 180 when it announced it would be working on Cyberpunk 2077 back in 2012. Up to that point, the studio was mostly known for its work on The Witcher series, which followed a monster hunter in a distinctly European take on medieval fantasy. Designing a world in a completely different genre, it turns out, is a very different experience.

In an in-depth interview for The Gamer, Cyberpunk 2077's lead quest designer Pawel Sasko told the outlet that development on back-to-back Witcher titles had left the team in a pretty comfortable spot with the series and the feeling of making a fantasy world. However, the "novelty" of making a whole new world with new tools was "just exciting."

"It was like, 'Oh my god, I can have a car in the game now. I can have a gun in the game. I can have a phone," Sasko shared. As it turns out, it's really easy for us as players (and people of the modern world) to take these things for granted, but these constraints radically shaped CD Projekt Red's approach to quest design over the years.

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As Sasko points out, "In the Witcher world, it's so difficult to give you a quest as a player. You always have to have someone that you met, or you found something, or there is a messenger that keeps running your way and you bump into them." That sounds…quite exhausting to design around if I'm being honest, but it was CD Projekt Red's bread and butter by the time that the studio had begun developing Cyberpunk 2077.

By comparison, Cyberpunk 2077 appeared to give the team brand new toys to play with that expedited things quite a ways, like a cell phone. While players will sometimes mock how often characters in the game try to get V on the phone, it must have been a miracle to the team to be able to cut down on all the traveling and precise maneuvering needed to get Geralt anywhere. In Cyberpunk, as Sasko puts it, a character, and more importantly a quest giver, can instead just "text you, they can send you a picture."

It will be a wonder to see how CD Projekt Red now takes its learnings from Cyberpunk 2077 and not only bolsters them for the upcoming sequel, but also adapts them for The Witcher 4. Just don't expect Ciri to suddenly have a magic pad that connects her to everyone she's ever met, though.

The Witcher 4 isn't just hiring Baldur's Gate 3 talent – CD Projekt Red is still expanding to "strengthen" its team, with various job openings for the RPG as well as Cyberpunk 2

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Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. CATEGORIES PS5 PS4 PC Gaming Xbox One Xbox Series X Platforms PlayStation Xbox Moises TaverasContributor

Moises is a born-and-raised New Yorker who's rarely obnoxious about it. He first aspired to do games media almost 20 years ago while looking up reviews of Super Mario Galaxy and still can't believe he's doing it sometimes. Ask him about Hollow Knight, he dares you.

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Logout Read more Baldur's Gate 3 provided "a lot of inspiration" for CD Projekt Red, but The Witcher 4 devs are sticking to their own RPG formula: "We definitely are not going to make a game like Larian did"    Cyberpunk 2077 "pretends to be GTA" at the start, but CDPR was just "trying to trick you"    The Witcher 4 isn't just hiring Baldur's Gate 3 talent – CD Projekt Red is still expanding to "strengthen" its team, with various job openings for the RPG as well as Cyberpunk 2    As the first The Witcher game turns 18, CDPR co-CEO remembers "the uphill battle" to get Geralt's first action-RPG noticed, teases "more adventures ahead"    5 years after Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red reveals why Night City as the "main antagonist" created an irresistible RPG    The Witcher 4 seems stronger than ever, as ex-Baldur's Gate 3 dev joins the team behind CD Projekt Red's new RPG: "Time to trade in my Baldur's Gate dice for some Polish steel"    Latest in Cyberpunk Cyberpunk 2077 "pretends to be GTA" at the start, but CDPR was just "trying to trick you"    Cyberpunk 2077 lead writer says the RPG's main antagonist is Night City itself: "It's Night City versus everyone else"    Cyberpunk 2077 is CD Projekt Red's "main source of revenue," outpacing The Witcher 3's 5-year sales with 35 million copies sold    Cyberpunk series creator Mike Pondsmith says he's watching Cyberpunk 2 closely at CDPR, just like he did with 2077: "People have been showing me what they're doing"    Keanu Reeves wants to find a way to play Cyberpunk 2077's Johnny Silverhand again, so series creator Mike Pondsmith quips "I have ways to do that, Keanu, contact me"    Cyberpunk creator Mike Pondsmith got to play Cyberpunk 2077 before the RPG's infamous launch, only to see his V randomly T-pose pantsless: "We're fixing that, right?"    Latest in News "Oh my god, I can have a car in the game now": CD Projekt Red was excited to use modern tech in Cyberpunk 2077    Steam is the best platform for game discovery, says former Valve dev, but that's awful news for the industry    Stranger Things co-creator cryptically teases season 5 part 2: "It's gonna be a long six day wait for the finale"    MMO adds Christmas event, accidentally fills city fountain with pee: "A fix is planned"    King's Field-inspired fantasy action RPG gets 50,000 wishlists in one week    "We apologize": Monster Hunter Wilds to get "Steam-specific stability patch" in January, nearly a year after launch, as Capcom ends major updates    GAME REVIEWSMOVIE REVIEWSTV REVIEWS

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