and I don't know why,

but I just couldn't deal with the pressure.

I was actually a shadow of myself at this E3.

Cyberpunk 2077,

CD Projekt Red's first deviation from the Witcher universe,

is an action-oriented, narrative-driven open world RPG.

Which is a mouthful.

The game was announced in 2012

and officially revealed in a teaser trailer in 2013.

But after that, there was nothing.

After the teaser, we kind of went dormant.

It was silence for four or five years,

which for me and for my community team was very hard

because people were very excited about the game.

When we first announced Cyberpunk,

we had a certain vision of where we want to take it.

The main difference between the pen and paper RPG

and the PC game still to this date is that ultimately,

while video games are nicer to look at,

the freedom that you have in the pen and paper RPG

is something that we have yet to achieve

in any game, I would say.

We can just take what is the source material

and decide we're going to make a video game around it,

but we have to be smart about it.

Being smart takes time and experimentation.

Over the last five years, the Cyberpunk development team

has been crafting an experience

that they hope exceeds the expectations of fans

of both the original franchise

and of CD Projekt's previous output.

The reason why you can't really go out and just show everything

is because video game development

is such an iterative process.

What we have now might not be there tomorrow.

So we've had ideas that have died over the years,

then they have been resurrected, then they died again,

and now they're back.

Cyberpunk 2077 isn't only set 50 years after the source material,

but it also takes place in a parallel timeline.

This gave the team the freedom to create a game

that respected and referenced the source material

but also suited the shift to the video game medium.

For example, it was vital that the player's character, V,

be fully customizable.

This was a real shift for a company

associated with an incredibly iconic character like Geralt.

For us, it's important to give players this freedom

to allow them to play themselves in our world

and really immerse themselves.

That is also part of why we have the first person perspective

because you don't play as someone else

but you play as "I."

Got a window on the left, go!

[GUNFIRE]

The move to first person is essential

to convey the scale and verticality of Night City,

the game's sprawling, neon-soaked hub.

But this change in perspective,

combined with a completely new style of navigation,

including the ability to drive,

brings with it a new set of design challenges.

It's easy to make an open world

that when you're on foot feels huge,

but if you're in a car it's ten minutes.

One feels like a huge world,

the other like a not-so-huge world.

How do you balance that?

How do you create the feeling of vastness?

But those are the cool things when you challenge yourself

to sort of push forward into new uncharted territory

and you try to find new solutions to these problems.

At E3 2018, CD Projekt Red

finally revealed the first gameplay of Cyberpunk 2077

to a select audience of media and invited guests.

We were so nervous and anxious

to learn what people will say about the game

because the hype was unreal.

Soon word spread that it was the must-see game of the show.

The team left E3 with over 100 media awards.

But for the community of PlayStation gamers

who had waited so long to see the game in action,

the words of the media weren't enough.

They had to see it for themselves.

Two months later, their wish came true

when all 48 minutes of the playthrough was made public.

Their overall sentiment was amazing,

and the reception was great.

So it was just very rejuvenating for us

to basically see those reactions,

and we're just like, "Phew, okay, cool, we got it."

Well done, Ms. V, well done.

Cyberpunk 2077 may no longer be the mystery it once was,

but work on it is far from over.

True to the promise made in 2013,

it's still coming when it's ready.

[GUNSHOT]