The new CD Projekt Red studio, which is based in Boston, is responsible for the second part of Cyberpunk 2077. This is exactly what Project Orion is supposed to make more authentic – at least it will eliminate the overly European manhole covers and other not-so-American details. That would ruin all the immersion…
Cyberpunk 2077 becomes much more authentic in the second part
In fact, some players had complained that Cyberpunk 2077, which is set in the fictional city of Night City in California, was not American enough.
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In the AnsweRED podcast, the team addresses this very topic. “I think cyberpunk is a uniquely American story. It has a lot of punk energy, and an American wrote it, so it seems right to set it in America,” says executive producer Dan Hernberg.
Paweł Sasko, Associate Game Director gave an example of this: “There was this post where the guy said that there was this immersion bug in Cyberpunk, and the bug was related to the fact that the covers for sewer manholes were the manholes that you normally use in Europe, in Germany, for sidewalks.”
“When you go to America, there are things like fire hydrants, where they are placed and how they look. The street lights, the positions, the garbage cans, right? They are in front of the house, right on the street. In Poland and Europe, you hardly see that anywhere. There are so many nuances. When Dan talks about it, he calls it the Americana.”
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According to Hernberg, these small details are important to make the world of Cyberpunk more believable. If this is not the case, the world seems wrong and inconsistent.
“It doesn't break the immersion of the film, but it's just a little thing that makes you think, 'Well, maybe this wasn't made by people who live here or fully understand American culture.'”
“I also think that living in America, we have these cultural touchpoints with the larger American influence, you know, the influence of Hollywood. Cyberpunk 2077 took place in LA, so there are just all these cultural touchpoints and things that we can interact with.”
Did you notice these European features while playing Cyberpunk 2077, or did you just ignore them out of habit? It's probably more noticeable to players in the US.