Cyberpunk 2 Multiplayer All But Confirmed As CD Projekt Red Hunts Engineer For High-Performance Online Play
Four years after scrapping Cyberpunk 2077's multiplayer spin-off, CD Projekt is reloading its multiplayer plans.
CD Projekt Red still has not said much about its Cyberpunk 2077 sequel — it does not even have an official title yet — but a job ad just quietly spilled the first real clue about what they are building this time: multiplayer.
The job listing that says the quiet part out loud
Spotted via FRVR, CDPR is hiring a lead network engineer for Cyberpunk 2, based out of the Boston studio that is heading up the sequel. This is not one of those vague listings where everyone plays connect-the-dots. The post explicitly mentions Cyberpunk 2 and straight-up references features like matchmaking. Translation: they are taking another swing at online play inside the main game, not as a separate side project.
The lead network engineer 'will play a pivotal role in designing and implementing the network architecture and online systems,' 'ensure low-latency, high-performance online experiences for players,' and lead a team to 'develop and optimize multiplayer systems, including matchmaking,' tackling latency, bandwidth, and server performance.
What that actually entails
- Role: Lead network engineer specifically for Cyberpunk 2
- Location: CDPR Boston, the studio leading development on the sequel
- Mandate: Build the network architecture and online systems from the ground up
- Focus: Low-latency, high-performance online play
- Team leadership: Guide engineers working on multiplayer systems, including matchmaking
- Technical challenges: Solve for latency, bandwidth usage, and server performance
CDPR and multiplayer: the do-over
If this feels like a course correction, that is because it is. Back in 2021, CD Projekt Red said it had 'decided to reconsider' the plan for a dedicated Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer game. Instead, the company pivoted to a longer-term idea of 'bringing online into all of our franchises one day.' Since then, The Witcher side of the house has been experimenting with its own standalone multiplayer project, codenamed Project Sirius — which has had a real development rollercoaster of its own.
So what should you expect?
We still do not know the shape of it — co-op, PvP, shared hubs, something else — because CDPR has not formally announced any features. But with matchmaking and network architecture called out this plainly, multiplayer is not a maybe. It is a design pillar for the sequel.
Bottom line
No title, no launch window, and not a lot of official talk yet. But this listing makes one thing pretty clear: Cyberpunk 2 is being built with online play in mind from the start, out of CDPR Boston, as the studio makes good on the multiplayer plan that got shelved during the 2077 era. And yes, the company still has a packed slate ahead — from the next Witcher to that multiplayer Sirius experiment — but this is the first concrete hint about where Night City goes next.