Summary
A high-ranking developer at CD Projekt Red who has played major roles in the creation ofCyberpunk 2077andThe Witcher 3: Wild Huntis convinced that both games still have secrets that players have yet to uncover. AlthoughCyberpunk 2077has been available for more than four years andThe Witcher 3for nearly a decade, Pawel Sasko still enjoys watching players try to find everything hidden in the games.
One of Sasko’s biggest claims to fame came from his role as lead quest designer forThe Witcher 3. Healso served as quest director forCyberpunk 2077and played a major role in the design work for the massivePhantom Libertyexpansion.Sasko has explained previously to Game Rant that empathy isthe secret sauce of quest design for CD Projekt Red, but throwing in hidden gems for the games' communities to uncover over time also seems to be high on his agenda.
Speaking with theFlow Gamespodcast, Sasko said he is “quite sure” that both games contain some secrets that no player has discovered yet, despite their age. It sounds as though Sasko and the other developers at CD Projekt Red have hidden their secrets well, as he recalledThe Witcher 3players still seemingly digging up Easter eggsfor the first time more than seven years after that game’s release. Just a few weeks ago, he said he enjoyed seeing Reddit posters finally discovering two men sitting on a metal beam in the Black Market inPhantom Libertyand successfully identifying it as a reference to the famous photograph of construction workers taking a break at the site of The Chrysler Building in New York City.
CD Projekt Red Hides its Secrets Well
While Sasko didn’t go into an extensive list of secrets that players have uncovered across the years, he did mention the infamousCyberpunk 2077FF:06:B5mystery by name. That hidden message, first uncovered after the reveal of the game’s 2.0 update, incorporates a cryptic hexidecimal code, a QR code, and images of characters fromThe Witcherseries in a sprawling quest that still leaves fans debating about its meaning. The puzzle is so complex that he believes it is impossible for one player to solve on their own, but he greatly enjoys reading lists of fan theories behind the meaning. “It makes sense what they are saying,” he noted. “It’s not what I intended at all, with the teams that designed it, but it makes sense.”
Sasko instructs his team members to watch streamers play their games because it helps developers to get inside players' heads and better enables them to guide players on a journey. For example, he brought upchoices inPhantom Libertythat multiple streamers have visibly agonized over for large chunks of time as an example of a successful dilemma design. Understanding a game’s community is an important skill for developers to have, he said, because it also helps them to understand how players will tend to approach a game and how to place secrets that will take years for the community to collaboratively uncover.
Cyberpunk 2077
WHERE TO PLAY
Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world action-adventure from the creators of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, CD Projekt Red.Set in Night City, a megalopolis obsessed with power, glamour and body modification, you play as V, a mercenary outlaw going after a one-of-a-kind implant that is the key to immortality.Upgraded with next-gen in mind and featuring free additional content, customize your character and playstyle as you take on jobs, build a reputation, and unlock upgrades.The relationships you forge and the choices you make will shape the story and the world around you. Legends are made here. What will yours be?
