Cyberpunk always gets a beat on this show. This cycle it's the sequel — codenamed Project Orion — and a fresh round of leaks that read like ambition turned all the way up. Keep the label on it: leaks, not gospel.
## What the leaks claim Reports around Project Orion point to CD Projekt Red building the sequel on Unreal Engine 5, leaving the old REDengine behind. The documentation that's circulated suggests a playstyle system that changes as the story moves through major arcs — infiltration, street fighting, engineering, netrunning — with factions reacting to how you build your legend.
## A second city The most eye-catching piece: Cyberpunk creator Mike Pondsmith has described the setting as Night City plus another city that "feels like Chicago gone wrong." A sequel that expands past Night City into a second location is a real scope jump from 2077, and it's the detail fans keep latching onto.
## Where it actually stands Here's the sober part. Orion entered pre-production in 2025 and "Cyberpunk 2" is still a placeholder title. Analyst estimates put the release somewhere around 2030. So everything above is early — a mix of official comments and leaks, not a shipped feature list. Treat it as direction, not a spec sheet, and say "reportedly" on air.
## Why it's the Cyberpunk beat this cycle The standing rule: Cyberpunk news gets placed by medium — game news sits in gaming, Edgerunners sits in anime. This is the game, so it lands here. And it fits the host's lane cleanly: a big-world, single-player RPG built for immersion.
## The takeaway Night City plus a second town gone bad, on a new engine, years out — the ambition leaked loud. Just keep the rumor tag on it until CDPR confirms, because a lot can change between pre-production and 2030.
## Sources - NoobFeed: Cyberpunk 2 Breakthrough - Project Orion Leaks - https://www.noobfeed.com/news/cyberpunk-2-breakthrough-project-orion-leaks - VGTimes: Cyberpunk 2 news - latest news and rumors (July 2026) - https://vgtimes.com/games/cyberpunk-2/news/ - Notebookcheck: Development of Cyberpunk 2 Project Orion picks up speed - https://www.notebookcheck.net/Development-of-Cyberpunk-2-Project-Orion-picks-up-speed-development-team-strengthened-by-new-high-caliber-additions.801590.0.html