Cyberpunk 2077 Dev Reveals Why Its Side Quests Are So Good

gamerant.com:

Cyberpunk 2077’s lead quest designer, Paweł Sasko, has revealed the process that makes the game’s side quests so strong. Even during the rough launch of Cyberpunk 2077, the side quests in the game stood out for their quality.

The comeback of Cyberpunk 2077 is incredible. It had one of the roughest launches in recent memory, which came as a huge disappointment given the enormous amount of hype for the game. Coming on the back of The Witcher 3, it was a huge blow to the goodwill that CD Projekt Red had spent years building with the gaming community. However, consistent patches, the Phantom Liberty expansion, and the 2.0 update for Cyberpunk 2077 have given the game a new lease of life. Whether it has reached its potential is another discussion entirely, but there's no doubt that nowadays, it's a ton of fun to play.

In a recent interview with PC Gamer at GDC, Paweł Sasko, who served as the lead quest designer on Cyberpunk 2077, confirmed the secret to ensuring that the side quests were consistently great. The solution is simple — just have a ton of ideas, and use only the very best. According to Sasko, «A good designer has an acceptance ratio of their ideas of between five to 10%,» and «If someone has 10%, this is probably one of the best people we have in the team.» The quest designers on the game are tasked with writing up to 20 pitches a day, and then the very best of those are chosen to be developed into side quests in Cyberpunk 2077.

On the surface, the mantra of «don't use bad ideas» isn't exactly rocket science. However, it's a good reminder that even the most creative developers will have ideas that don't quite work, and finding the most comprehensive method to weed these out will always produce the best end results. It's certainly an interesting glimpse into the development process of Cyberpunk 2077. After all, now that the technical issues are ironed out, the side quests are a big part of the reason that the game is now one of the best action RPGs on the market.