CD PROJEKT RED has issued a new press release about how the follow-up to Cyberpunk 2077 is gaining ground at its studios in North America, and with it comes the announcement of several high-profile veterans that will be working on the game. Project Orion, as the sequel is codenamed, is currently in the “early stages” of development.
New staff additions at CDPR:
- Dan Hernberg is joining the team as Executive Producer. Dan has previously worked as Head of Production at Amazon Games, Head of Production and Product Management at Panic Button, and Lead Product Manager at Blizzard Entertainment — and contributed to such titles as New World, Apex Legends, and Diablo III, among others.
- Ryan Barnard’s past credits include Game Director at Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft, as well as Gameplay Director at Hitman developer IO Interactive. He will be contributing his skillset as Design Director.
- Alan Villani is entering the Project Orion team as Engineering Director, having previously lent his technical expertise as VP of Technology on various WB Game products, including technical direction on several Mortal Kombat titles.
- Anna Megill is an award-winning game writer and author with 20 years’ experience in video games. She joins Project Orion as Lead Writer on the heels of narrative contributions to such titles as Control (Remedy), Dishonored: Death of The Outsider (Arkane), Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (Ubisoft Massive), Guild Wars 2 (ArenaNet), and the upcoming Fable (Playground Games).
- Alexander Freed will further bolster the writing for Project Orion. The New York Times bestselling novelist, narrative designer, and comic book writer with over 15 years of game writing experience has previously worked as Lead Writer at BioWare on, among other titles, Star Wars: The Old Republic. He has also written and consulted for various major studios, including DICE, Obsidian Entertainment, Wizards of the Coast, and 20th Century Fox’s games division FoxNext.
Also, I started a new job. I'm the Lead Writer on @CDPROJEKTRED's Project Orion. I'm so excited to work with this brilliant, creative team https://t.co/3CAErivdnQ
— Anna Megill @cynixy.bsky.social (@cynixy) February 6, 2024
CDPR on who’s leading the game:
…studio veterans previously involved in Cyberpunk 2077 and its spy-thriller Phantom Liberty expansion [are] spearheading the 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). This group is now part of a larger team based in the newly created CDPR studio in Boston, Massachusetts.