Although Cyberpunk 2077 got an official trailer and a closed-doors demo, the game is far from finished.
It turns out that CD Projekt RED has a very good reason for not showing off that famed Cyberpunk 2077 behind-the-curtain gameplay demo: the build is actually pre-alpha. According to company president Adam Kicinski, this is just a taster sampling of what CDPR has in store and doesn't represent the final game.
In a recent interview Polish website Bankier asked if the closed-doors gameplay was an alpha build, in which Kicinski replied: "No, earlier. Therefore, we show the game behind closed doors - this is not the final quality yet. This is the most polished part of the game we have now, prepared in some sense to show it to people outside the company."
Even still gamers got a fusillade of Cyberpunk 2077 information gleaned from the demo--pre alpha or otherwise--including explosively violent combat, a deep, branching RPG-based story arc with strong emphasis on choice and consequence, and that the game is an FPS.
Remember that Cyberpunk 2077 is the biggest and most ambitious game CD Projekt RED has ever made. The game has been in development for quite some time as the studio revved up their technology, including a next-gen in-house engine, capture tech, AI, and tons of other tweaks across the board. The dev team actually rebooted the technopunk shooter too, which added a good chunk of time onto the cycle.
As of its last investor's meeting CD Projekt RED projects to release Cyberpunk 2077 by 2021 alongside another AAA RPG. This would give them 3 extra years of time to iterate, polish and refine the world of Night City and its intricate dynamic NPCs for a release.
While CDPR is targeting current-gen consoles it's possible Cyberpunk 2077 could launch on next-gen systems like Sony's new PlayStation and Microsoft's upcoming Xbox Scarlett family of systems.
"The game follows the story of V - a hired gun on the rise in Night City, the most violent and dangerous metropolis of the corporate-ruled future. A robust character creator will allow players to choose V's gender, visual appearance, character class, as well as historical background - all of which may influence the shape of the game.
"With dozens of hours of main story arc quests, and many more of additional activities, there's always something to see and do in Night City. Players will experience all of it entirely through V's eyes, with an interactive dialogue system that gives them greater narrative agency.
"Returning in Cyberpunk 2077 is CD PROJEKT RED's hallmark of choices and consequences. As they make their way through the streets of Night City and its sky-scraping megabuildings, players will face difficult decisions that will ripple through the entire game."