As part of its preparations for Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red is hiring developers with remarkable backgrounds in preparation for Project Orion. A significant turning point was reached by The Witcher studio when it revealed its new direction in a press statement, moving past its dystopian role-playing game and its Phantom Liberty DLC. A few “high-profile additions” to the workforce are part of these next stages; these devs have worked on games like Hitman, Diablo, Mortal Kombat, Dishonored, and more.
Dan Hernberg, who is joining Project Orion as an executive producer, is first on the list. He has held positions as a lead product manager at Blizzard Entertainment and chief of production at Amazon Games. The most well-known roles Ryan Barnard has had are gameplay director at IO Interactive and game director at Ubisoft Massive. He will assist in the role of design director.
Alan Villani, who has assisted with technical guidance on previous Mortal Kombat titles, will take on the role of engineering director. Lead writer Anna Megill, who developed Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, and Former Control, will work on Project Orion. Lastly, after having previously contributed to projects for companies like DICE, Obsidian Entertainment, and Wizards of the Coast, Alexander Freed will assist with writing as well.
Experience shared by these high-profile joining
Dan Hernberg: He is an Executive Producer on the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel team, was previously Head of Production at Amazon Games, Head of Production and Product Management at Panic Button, and Lead Product Manager at Blizzard Entertainment. He also contributed to games like Apex Legends, Diablo III, and New World.
Ryan Barnard: In addition to serving as Game Director at Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft, Ryan Barnard was formerly the Gameplay Director at IO Interactive, the company that developed Hitman. He is currently a Design Director.
Alan Villani: Former Vice President of Technology for many WB Game products, including technical leadership for multiple Mortal Kombat titles, Alan Villani joins the Project Orion team as Engineering Director.
Anna Megill is an accomplished novelist and game writer with twenty years of expertise creating video games, has joined the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel team as Lead Writer. Recent projects she worked on included Guild Wars 2 (ArenaNet), Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (Ubisoft Massive), Control (Remedy), and the forthcoming Fable (Playground Games).
Alexander Freed: The New York Times bestselling author, narrative designer, and comic book writer has over 15 years of experience creating video games. She was the Lead Writer on Star Wars: The Old Republic at BioWare. In addition, he has authored and provided consulting services to Wizards of the Coast, DICE, Obsidian Entertainment, and FoxNext, the gaming company of 20th Century Fox.
CD Projekt Red said,
“As work on the follow-up to Cyberpunk 2077, codename Project Orion, enters early stages of development at CD PROJEKT RED North America, the company is currently hiring for various positions across its Boston and Vancouver locations.”
There aren’t many details available about the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, which is being worked on at CD Projekt Red’s Boston studio, but we do know a little bit about what the team is planning. Multiplayer is one concept that is circulating; it was not included in the first game and is something the team is now “considering.”
