Night City remains one of the greatest and most immersive videogame metropolises ever, and there are hopes and expectations that in Cyberpunk 2077's sequel, we'll be able to explore even more locations in and around it. Phantom Liberty already gave us a taste of that excitement. Plus, the corners of Night City we already know and love should look more visually impressive than ever, and will have likely evolved a fair bit, too. But CD Projekt Red appears to be feeling in a particularly ambitious mood, as the sequel will not only see us return to Night City, but seemingly to an all-new city as well. That's according to comments made by Mike Pondsmith, the original creator of the Cyberpunk universe.
Pondsmith has already worked closely with CDPR to consult on the world, characters, and mechanics of best open-world games you can play, and the streets of Night City are largely responsible for that.
However, in a new interview, Pondsmith appears to let slip that Project Orion will whisk players off to a second city.
"I spent a lot of time talking to one of the environment guys [at CDPR]," he says. "He was explaining how the new place in Project Orion looks, because there is another city we visit. I'm not telling you any more than that. But there is another city we visit. Night City is still there. But I looking at that and going 'yeah, I understand the feel you are going for, and this really works.'"
Pondsmith also claims during the interview, which was first spotted by CD Action, that this new metropolis has a "Chicago gone wrong" vibe. This doesn't explicitly mean that we'll be exploring actual Chicago – after all, Night City is a fictional destination. Instead, the likelihood is that this second city will take some architectural or cultural cues from the real life Windy City.
Of course, Project Orion is nowhere near completion and plans could change – this second city may never see the light of day, or may get held back as a smaller DLC location, similar to how we got to explore a fresh district of Night City in Phantom Liberty. However, if the base game of Orion does let us jump between two major locations, it'll be interesting to see whether this Chicago-y city is of a similar scale to Night City – and if it can engross fans in the same way.
Until we get to hear more about Cyberpunk 2077's sequel, here are some other essential PC games to see what's on the horizon.
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