CD Projekt Red Won’t Follow in Larian’s Footsteps. Cyberpunk 2077 Devs Want ‘To Have a Banging Release Where Everything Is as Close to Perfection as Can Be’
Pawel Sasko revealed that CD Projekt Red has no intention of releasing games in early access. Instead, the Polish dev wants its new titles to have a near-perfect launch, on par with the one scored by the Cyberpunk 2077 expansion.
Baldur's Gate 3 has shown that a game developed during early access can achieve tremendous success. It's no wonder that many studios developing big, ambitious projects, like No Rest for the Wicked, have chosen to take a similar step recently.
Although theoretically early access could work for many AAA games, this view is not shared by the main quest designer in Cyberpunk 2077, Pawel Sasko. During the interview with PCGamer, he acknowledged that early access for Baldur's Gate 3 had a distinct nature and was successful due to several key factors.
Maybe there is a way for AAA [games] to use early access, but I would be cautious with that, just because there is a very specific situation with Larian here.
According to Sasko:
- during the development of the third "Baldur," Larian Studios was on the border between the AA and AAA segments - it was only the successful launch of this title that secured the Belgians a place among the major players in gamedev;
- the historical significance of the Baldur's Gate brand and Larian's previous experience with the Divinity series have led to the necessity of consulting with the community regarding the game's vision.
The CDPR employee mentioned that not all games developed in early access are successful, pointing out that Larian was "probably the first one really that had this much success" by choosing this path.
Moreover, in that interview, Pawel Sasko pointed out that for the CD Projekt Red team, the"ambition is to have a banging release, where everything is just as close to perfection as can beâ?¦ pretty much as we shipped Phantom Liberty." The lead quest designer of Cyberpunk 2077 has confirmed that the developers will release games only when they are ready instead of launching titles in early access.
The expansion Phantom Liberty frequently served as a significant point of reference for Pawel Sasko in discussing future CDPR productions.
