From manhole covers to street lights and more, CD PROJEKT RED wants the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel to be as authentically American as possible. Evidently, following some past Reddit posts, CD PROJEKT RED has concerns regarding the level of authenticity of the first game and is having its new Boston studio focus on ensuring the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel resembles America as closely as possible.
Associate Game Director Paweł Sasko and Acting Executive Producer Dan Hernberg were guests on this week’s AnsweRED Podcast by CD PROJEKT RED where they shared details regarding the opening of CDPR’s new Boston studio. The topic of visual authenticity came up and Hernberg then emphasized why it’s important the new studio is the perfect place to work on the next game.
I think Cyberpunk is obviously a uniquely American story. It’s got a lot of like punk energy, and it was written by an American, so it just seems right to do it in America.
Dan Hernberg – CDPR Acting Executive Producer
Associate game director Paweł Sasko expressed concerns regarding visual details in the original game. Sasko noted how designs for street objects such as manhole covers, signs, hydrants, and more largely originated from European versions. Apparently, at some point after the first game launched there were Reddit posts made by folks complaining about German manhole covers. Some of these posts were sincere in their displeasure of the non-US imagery. In contrast, others ran with it and had fun with it by noting how particular manhole covers were of the incorrect rating and possibly the reason so many NPCs often fell through or disappeared from the street.
Per Pawel Sasko (via WccfTech):
“There’s this interesting story after the release of Cyberpunk 2077 that blew up on Reddit at some point, and it’s the manhole debacle. Like, the manholes that are covering the roads, right? There was this post with the guy saying that there is this immersive breaking bug in Cyberpunk, and the bug was about the fact that the covers for manholes for a sewer were the manholes that you use normally in Europe, in Germany, for a pavement. Those are not manholes that you normally cover in America on the streets.”
“Our curbs are different, our color is different on all of our signs. Everything’s just slightly different. It doesn’t break immersion, but it’s just that little thing where you’re like, “Well, maybe this wasn’t made by people who live here or people who fully understand all of American culture,” added Hernberg.
It can be questionable and entirely subjective as to whether or not such details truly decrease a player’s level of immersion in a game but CDPR has taken notice of the internet postings and is working to ensure such things are not misrepresented again.