Mike Laidlaw, a former Bioware staffer, says that he would consider working on Cyberpunk 2077 if asked by CD Projekt RED. During his 10-plus years at Bioware, he worked on releases such as Jade Empire (Lead Writer), Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II (Lead Designer), and Dragon Age: Inquisition (Creative Director).
“They would certainly, absolutely raise an eyebrow,” he said if he was asked by CD Projekt RED. “I’m a giant Cyberpunk nerd, straight up, Neuromancer is my favourite novel of all time. Like, William Gibson could write on the stall of a bathroom and I would make a small pilgrimage there.”
“For the most part, moving to Poland and moving my family, and that kind of stuff, would be exceptionally challenging but Cyberpunk’s always had a draw.”
He continued to talk about his relationship with the popular video game publisher, as well as the difference between The Witcher and Dragon Age.
“[I hear from them] On and off. It’s not like we can go and grab a coffee since Poland is far away,” he said. “But when I see them at conventions I tell them their games are absolutely fantastic and usually, they reply with the same thing. CD Projekt RED licensed from Bioware the Aurora engine, which was the Neverwinter Nights engine, to do The Witcher one. A lot of people forget that and are like ‘Oh, you guys must hate each other because fantasy!’ and I’m like ‘No, man! No. I get to play their game and I don’t know how it turns out. That sounds awesome!'”
“Frankly, I think it’s to the industry’s benefit,” he continued. “If we all make the same game it would kind of suck. I think we need Divinity, we need The Witcher, we need Skyrim.”
Cyberpunk 2077 has no fixed release date. It will be hit the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows.