Hidden Cyberpunk 2077 Detail May Reveal The Location Of Cyberpunk 2 (Orion) – Screen Rant

Summary

CD Projekt Red may be teasing the location for Cyberpunk 2077's sequel - currently codenamed Project Orion - and potentially the year it's set in. If so, the sequel could take place in a futuristic version of a real-world location, being a departure from Cyberpunk 2077's completely fictional Night City.

Project Orion was first announced in 2022 as a part of CD Projekt Red's long-term strategy update, and many developers have moved on from working on Cyberpunk 2077 to focus on its sequel and the upcoming The Witcher game. Despite stating that Project Orion will "prove the full power and potential of the Cyberpunk universe", little to nothing has been revealed surrounding the title's story, gameplay, or release date. Despite this, CD Projekt Red may be subtly planting clues about the sequel through Cyberpunk 2077's updates.

At various locations around the map, a poster can be found advertising quick travel between Night City and Chicago using the Transcontinental Maglev Network, which has led to speculation that this could be the location for Project Orion. The poster also states that this will be opening in 2080, potentially teasing the year in which Project Orion will take place. If the game is set in 2080, this would be three years after Cyberpunk 2077's main campaign, and a further year after V awakens from their coma in Phantom Liberty's "The Tower" ending.

One of the aims of Night Corp's Maglev System is to connect Night City's Corpo Plaza with the NUSA's wider East Coast, offering quick travel to other cities such as New York, the most populated city in the NUSA.

When exactly the poster was added to the game has been debated among the fanbase. Some claim that they saw the poster since Cyberpunk 2077's launch back in 2020, while others say that they saw it for the first time in early 2023, and believed it could tie into the Phantom Liberty expansion that came later that year.

Ultimately, Chicago didn't play any part in Phantom Liberty when it launched in September 2023. Since the 2.0 and 2.1 updates to the core game, however, players such as Redditor QueenCobra91 are reporting more frequent sightings of the poster, believing it to be building up to Project Orion's reveal now that CD Projekt Red has moved many developers onto the sequel and has released an "Ultimate Edition" of Cyberpunk 2077 in December 2023 as a send-off for the title.

Although Night City is prominent and a unique creation, it has also been built upon the real-life Morro Bay in California, with the Cyberpunk RED Jumpstart Kit stating that Night City's Orbital Air Space Center is located on top of Morro Rock. Mike Pondsmith's Cyberpunk universe has referenced many other real-world locations through various sourcebooks, and although players can't visit them, places such as Shanghai and Hong Kong are mentioned within Cyberpunk 2077.

It's possible CD Projekt Red may choose to explore other real-world American locations in its Cyberpunk sequel, as this lore has already been established in sourcebooks such as Home of the Brave, or the cross-country adventure Land of the Free. This exploration of the wider New United States of America has already begun in Phantom Liberty. The expansion already heavily involved President Myers, who has ties to Washington D.C., and its "The Tower" ending even involved V getting treatment in the FIA's headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

If Project Orion were to move to Chicago, the location would already have a rich backstory to explore within the Cyberpunk universe based on information provided in Cyberpunk 2020, Cyberpunk RED, and the anime spin-off Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. The city was already impacted during the financial collapse of the United States of America between the years 1996 and 2008, but later became ravaged by a catastrophic bio-plague created by the Federal Government.

The bio-plague that swept Chicago was initially believed to be a derivative of the Ebola virus.

The bio-plague was created in a clandestine complex called Heartland, which was originally built beneath Chicago during World War 2 and contributed to the Manhattan Project before being repurposed as a large-scale bio-agent and chemical research facility. The facility became outdated, and when it couldn't be renovated successfully, it was abandoned alongside all of the biohazardous chemicals and projects scientists had been working on, with the complex being sealed shut with cement and plastered with bio-hazard warnings.

When reconstructing the University of Chicago campus that was situated atop Heartland, the companies in charge proceeded to demolish several old buildings. Among the sites listed for demolition was the Heartland complex, despite the many bio-hazard warnings, and this led to the bio-plague being unleashed upon the city. Within six months, Chicago was largely destroyed, with those who survived the plague abandoning the city, with a mere 10% of its population inhabiting the few remaining safe areas.

Storm Technologies Incorporated (aka. StormTech) began its reconstruction of Chicago once the toxicity levels dropped, and between 2017 and 2020, the company was able to salvage critical resources and rebuild major districts. As a result, 8-million residents were able to inhabit the once-fallen city, and it became the founding location of the major Cyberware manufacturer, Cytech. Unfortunately, this soon came to an end during the Fourth Corporate War, as Arasaka detonated virus bombs in Chicago to stop Militech from claiming it.

Fortunately, the posters seen in Cyberpunk 2077 indicate that the city may have been restored to its former glory once again in the decades that followed the Fourth Corporate War's end in 2025. If so, visiting the brand-new Chicago of the year 2080 in Project Orion could be a very different experience from exploring the more run-down Night City, providing a completely new aesthetic that can feel fresh while still retaining the Cyberpunk universe's rich storytelling and worldbuilding that players expect from the series.

Source: QueenCobra91/Reddit

Based on the 1988 tabletop game, Cyberpunk 2077 is a first-person action RPG game set in a dystopian cyber future developed by CD Projekt Red. Players will tackle the streets of Night City as customizable protagonist V, who struggles to keep their memories intact after receiving a strange cybernetic implant that slowly overrides their memories by a deceased celebrity known as Johnny Silverhand, played by Keanu Reeves.

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Hidden Cyberpunk 2077 Detail May Reveal The Location Of Cyberpunk 2 (Orion) - Screen Rant