In the end, Cyberpunk 2077 fell short of the high expectations in numerous ways. Players have been able to find remnants of the content that developer CD Projekt RED ultimately decided to leave in the cutting room in the game and its files over the course of the years since the game’s release, such as the content that the game launched with, which was significantly below expectations.
In a recent Twitch stream, Cyberpunk 2077’s quest designer Pawe Sasko provided additional details on how that went specifically during the development of the action RPG. Development is, of course, an iterative process, and content getting cut out and being left unused is par for the course for pretty much every game that gets made. Sasko clarified that the content that was rejected for the game was rejected for a cause, as it was thought to be “weak” and to fall short of the necessary standard of quality.
One thing I wanted to stress is that whenever there is unused content and you want to create content about it, you should know that it is always used for a purpose. (via MP1st). And I always try to clarify to the players and the press that it is your obligation as a creator to actually make all of the decisions about what actually gets into your game, you know, it is your responsibility. And when something is weak and just lacks quality, sometimes all you have to do is look at an idea to see that it lacks potential. You can see that it’s impossible to increase it to, say, nine out of ten quests, locales, or gaming features.
Phantom Liberty, the expansion for Cyberpunk 2077, is currently being developed by CD Projekt RED; information about it will start to be released in June. Fans will be hoping that it can provide notable upgrades over the main game.