Cyberpunk 2077 sequel staffs up with ex-BioWare, IO Interactive, Blizzard leads

by Adam Vitale on 08 February, 2024

CD Projekt Red has announced several staff additions made to the company's Boston studio, part of CD Projekt Red North America, which is responsible for Project Orion. Project Orion is the codename for the follow-up to Cyberpunk 2077.

Joining the team are project leads from Blizzard Entertainment, IO Interactive, BioWare, and more. Staff details can be found in the press release, shared below.

If you are like me and need a refresher what CD Projekt is working on, here's the run down:

Project Orion - That's this very article - the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel. It's in development at CD Projekt Red North America with studios in Boston and Vancouver.
Project Polaris - That's the codename for the new Witcher trilogy, in development at CD Projekt Red in Poland (there are studios in Warsaw, Cracow, and Wroclaw). This was originally announced in October 2022 (as were many of these projects).
Project Canis Majoris - That's the codename for The Witcher Remake, in development at Fool's Theory in Poland, a 3rd party studio. The Witcher Remake was also announced in October 2022.
Project Sirius - This a Witcher-related title in development at The Molasses Flood, a Boston subsidiary of CD Projekt Red. It is described as "an innovative take on The Witcher universe telling an unforgettable story for existing Witcher fans and new audiences."
Project Hadar - This is a new IP that we don't know anything about, other that it was announced in concept in October 2022.

CD Projekt's announcement can be found below.

CD Projekt Red has announced several high-profile additions to the team working on Project Orion — the anticipated follow-up to Cyberpunk 2077 being headed up by the US and Canada-based CD Projekt Red North America.
Project Orion is currently in the early stages of development, with studio veterans previously involved in Cyberpunk 2077 and its spy-thriller Phantom Liberty expansion spearheading the project, including Gabriel Amatangelo (Game Director), Paweł Sasko (Associate Game Director), Igor Sarzyński (Creative Director), Andrzej Stopa (Cinematic Director), Kacper Niepokólczycki (Environment Art Director), Sarah Grümmer (Acting Lead Quest Designer) and Kacper Kościeński (Engineering Director). This group is now part of a larger team based in the newly created CDPR studio in Boston, Massachusetts.
Joining them at this location are industry professionals with years of experience and a variety of well-known and impressive AAA projects:

Dan Hernberg is joining the team as Executive Producer. Dan has previously worked as Head of Production at Amazon Games, Head of Production and Product Management at Panic Button, and Lead Product Manager at Blizzard Entertainment — and contributed to such titles as New World, Apex Legends, and Diablo III, among others.

Ryan Barnard’s past credits include Game Director at Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft, as well as Gameplay Director at Hitman developer IO Interactive. He will be contributing his skillset as Design Director.

Alan Villani is entering the Project Orion team as Engineering Director, having previously lent his technical expertise as VP of Technology on various WB Game products, including technical direction on several Mortal Kombat titles.

Anna Megill is an award-winning game writer and author with 20 years’ experience in video games. She joins Project Orion as Lead Writer on the heels of narrative contributions to such titles as Control (Remedy), Dishonored: Death of The Outsider (Arkane), Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (Ubisoft Massive), Guild Wars 2 (ArenaNet), and the upcoming Fable (Playground Games).

Alexander Freed will further bolster the writing for Project Orion. The New York Times bestselling novelist, narrative designer, and comic book writer with over 15 years of game writing experience has previously worked as Lead Writer at BioWare on, among other titles, Star Wars: The Old Republic. He has also written and consulted for various major studios, including DICE, Obsidian Entertainment, Wizards of the Coast, and 20th Century Fox's games division FoxNext.

As work on the follow-up to Cyberpunk 2077, codename Project Orion, enters early stages of development at CD Projekt Red North America, the company is currently hiring for various positions across its Boston and Vancouver locations.The full list of job openings is available on the official CD PROJEKT RED website and will be further updated once new openings become available.