Extending Cyberpunk 2077's pre-heist rise through the ranks would risk a "meandering, unfocused experience", argues Cyberpunk 2 director

Warning: Spoilers for Cyberpunk 2077 lie ahead.

Cyberpunk 2077’s narrative really kicks into gear when, after a job gone wrong, metal-infused merc protagonist V realises they’re now living in the shadow of a Keanu Reeves-shaped clock. Despite this, you’re free to while away hours doing a million things other than confronting your urgent mortality problem. It’s something even CD Projekt themselves have joked about.

Prior to the heist going askew, however, there’s an opening section in which V’s working their way up through the ranks of Night City’s underworld alongside Jackie Welles. This bit can last a while if you’re happy to run after every side quest right out of the gate, but a lot of folks breeze through it, keen to be whisked into exploring all of the game’s metropolis as rapidly as the action plays out in the cutscene which fast-forwards through most of the time Jackie and V spend making a name for themselves. So, in hindsight, would CD Projekt have benefitted from having this section of the main narrative run a bit longer? In the eyes of Cyberpunk 2 creative director Igor Sarzynski, the answer’s a firm no, a view he’s explained in a flurry of posts.

Writing on BlueSky (as spotted by FRVR), Sarzynski addressed the question of extending the pre-heist act head on, arguing that it wouldn’t make for a better experience and is “like saying we should spend more time on Tatooine with farmer Luke before he got involved with all this Jedi stuff”. Random shade thrown at uncle Owen and aunt Beru aside, Sarzynski’s argument for this section working better as is revolves around the idea that the main perceived benefit of giving folks more time to bond with Jackie before, er, that thing happens to him at Konpeki Plaza wouldn’t outweigh the drawbacks of a more drawn-out arc prior to the fatal twist in V’s tale.

So would extending Act 1 (before the heist) in CP77 make the game better?

1. No it wouldn’t. It’s like saying we should spend more time on Tatooine with farmer Luke before he got involved with all this Jedi stuff.

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— igor.sarzynski (@srznsk.bsky.social) 5 January 2026 at 13:41

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“The motivation/goal in this section of the game is pretty vague – ‘get to the top’ – which, prolonged and without stakes or pressure would result in meandering, unfocused experience,” the developer argued, acknowledging that it is possible at current to spend up to 20 hours or so just exploring Watson during the pre-heist arc. As to whether the section as is offers enough time to grow close to Jackie and make what happens to him bear the emotional weight it’s designed to, Sarzynski admitted that’ll vary from player to player, but added: “All things considered, I think we struck a good balance.”

The start of Cyberpunk sometimes feeling like a bit of a rush to get everything in position for the main narrative arc to really kick off with the introduction of Silverhand and the relic’s long been an aspect of it that I’ve seen not necessarily as bad, but certainly something that could potentially have been improved. The cutscene montage of early jobs definitely made it harder initially for me to fully buy into the elements of the story surrounding clawing your way to Night City legend status. Ostensibly watching someone else blast through the start of that path in sped up fashion takes you out of it a bit, and you don’t get as full a picture of day-to-day life with Jackie as you otherwise might.

There’s also the matter of the game unfolding in a manner which inundates you with side stuff which essentially feels like pushing snooz on a threat of death which is supposed to feel inescapable and crushing from act two onwards. Sarzynski acknowledged that here, writing: “If I were to do it again, I’d contextualize gigs and sidequests as escaping death in a different way – by creating your own legend. And maybe gate a specific ending behind doing enough side content.” So, possibly a lesson which could be applied in some fashion to Cyberpunk 2 there.

On the other hand, as someone who feels Red Dead Redemption 2 – a game which also draws plenty of good from its general commitment to taking the lengthy and massively detailed route – start to drag a bit as its Western epic tale trots from the mid-game towards the end, I can very much see Sarzynski’s point about act one.

Both approaches can make for great games. In my book, a bigger issue in the base version of Cyberpunk arguably suffers due to is Johnny Silverhand’s regular presence and commentary sometimes feeling like it can undercut that game’s ability not to fill moments of silence that’d be perfect for Bladerunner-style broody contemplation with chatter that may not add much to proceedings. That’s a balance I felt was nailed a lot better in Phantom Liberty, simply by having Songbird cut in as a second voice in your head and offer some variety in outside perspective on events.

As for Jackie, it’s a bit of a cold way to put it given his fate, but I think he’s got just enough of a presence to fulfil his narrative role of early-game buddy cut down in his prime.