CD Projekt "shortened" Cyberpunk's campaign over length complaints
Too many players failed to reach the end of The Witcher 3's story, so Cyberpunk 2077 will take less time to finish
The main quest line of Cyberpunk 2077 will be shorter than The Witcher 3, according to CD Projekt Red, due to player complaints about the time needed to finish the story.
Patrick K. Mills, senior quest designer at the Polish company, discussed the length of Cyberpunk 2077's "main story run" on a Twitch stream -- as posted on Resetera.
According to Mills, Cyberpunk's campaign missions will be shorter than The Witcher 3, following "complaints" from players that it took too long to reach the end.
"Looking at the metrics, you see tremendous numbers of people played through that game really far, but never made it to the end," Mills said, citing a common trend among AAA games.
Mills added: "We want you to see the full story, so we did shorten the main story."
As an open-world RPG, there will be plenty to do in Cyberpunk 2077, but Mills suggested that the emphasis will shift towards "a completionist campaign" for those with the hours to spare.
These comments recall a discussion started by former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden. Speaking at Gamelab earlier this year, Layden expressed a desire for the return of shorter AAA games, which sparked a broad conversation across social media.
"Personally, as an older gamer... I would welcome a return to the 12 to 15 hour [AAA] game," he said.
"I would finish more games, first of all, and just like a well edited piece of literature or a movie, looking at the discipline around that could give us tighter, more compelling content. It's something I'd like to see a return to in this business."
Cyberpunk 2077 is due for release on November 18, 2020.