CD Projekt Red’s New Hires for Cyberpunk 2077 Sequel Project Orion

CD Projekt Red, the Polish video game developer behind the critically acclaimed Cyberpunk 2077, has announced several new hires for their upcoming sequel, Project Orion. The game, which is currently in the early stages of development, is being led by a team of experienced industry veterans.

Anna Megill, who will serve as lead writer for Project Orion, has previously worked on notable titles such as Control, Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, and the upcoming Fable reboot. Megill’s addition to the team is a significant one, as her past work demonstrates a knack for crafting immersive and engaging narratives.

Alexander Freed, who will join the writing team, has previously been the lead writer at BioWare on Star Wars: The Old Republic. Freed’s experience in crafting rich and complex stories for massively multiplayer online games will undoubtedly be an asset to Project Orion.

Ryan Barnard, a former game director from The Division developers Massive Entertainment and a gameplay director at Hitman developer IO Interactive, is also joining the team. Barnard’s expertise in game design and development will be crucial in bringing Project Orion to life.

Not much is known about Project Orion at this stage, beyond it being in early development, that it might have multiplayer, and that it might not be first-person. The game is being built on the Unreal Engine, rather than the in-house engine CDPR used for Cyberpunk 2077, and it’s being developed in a new studio based in Boston, Massachusetts rather than at Poland as the original was.

In an interview late last year, lead quest designer Pawel Sasko spoke about the importance of retaining the original developers, despite the change in continent and engine. “It’s so important when you have a group of leaders, managers who just know each other, know each other’s quirks, know each other’s strong and weak sides, know how to work with each other,” he said. “I think this is very powerful. It’s really, I would say, an understated and really unseen element of game design and game dev in general, just retaining that spine of directors and leads, who can basically build around and sort of retain that knowledge.”

The press release announcing these new hires begins by listing the “studio veterans” who are “spearheading” the new project, including Gabriel Amatangelo (Game Director), Paweł Sasko (Associate Game Director), Igor Sarzyński (Creative Director), Andrzej Stopa (Cinematic Director), Kacper Niepokólczycki (Environment Art Director), Sarah Grümmer (Acting Lead Quest Designer), and Kacper Kościeński (Engineering Director).

Project Orion is shaping up to be an ambitious project, and with the addition of these experienced hires, fans of Cyberpunk 2077 can look forward to a worthy successor. The game’s development is still in its infancy, but with the talent on board, it’s sure to be a fascinating journey.

CD Projekt Red’s Boston studio is currently hiring for various positions, so if you’re interested in working on Project Orion or any of their other projects, be sure to check out their careers page.

In conclusion, CD Projekt Red’s new hires for their upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, Project Orion, include experienced industry veterans such as Anna Megill, Alexander Freed, and Ryan Barnard. Megill, Freed, and Barnard bring a wealth of experience in writing, game design, and development, respectively. Project Orion is being built on the Unreal Engine and is being developed in a new studio based in Boston, Massachusetts. The game is still in its early stages of development, but with the talent on board, it’s sure to be an exciting project. CD Projekt Red’s Boston studio is currently hiring for various positions, so if you’re interested in working on Project Orion or any of their other projects, be sure to check out their careers page.