CD Projekt Red Reveals How Side Quests Are Built for RPGs

When you spend hundreds of hours in The Witcher 3 or Cyberpunk 2077, it is easy to lose track of what is a critical narrative beat and what is an optional side story. That consistency in quality is no accident. Following a discussion on Twitter regarding the developer's approach to side content and DLC, Paweł Sasko—associate game director on Cyberpunk 2—has pulled back the curtain on the studio’s internal process.

The Philosophy Behind Optional Content

Sasko, who previously served as a quest designer on The Witcher 3 and quest design director on Cyberpunk 2077, explained that the studio does not view side missions as secondary filler. Instead, these stories receive the same level of resources and production focus as the main plot.

"We put a considerable amount of effort into side stories," Sasko stated. "Those most of the time have same budget and production timeline, talented teams, and more creative freedom (by not being tied to main story, mostly)."

For the studio, this level of polish is a requirement rather than a luxury. Sasko emphasized that in both The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, maintaining high quality across all quests was a "must," not just a "nice to have" addition.

Player Engagement and Future Projects

The impact of this design philosophy is clear in the engagement numbers. While The Witcher 3 offers roughly 200 hours of content, many players find themselves sinking hundreds of additional hours into the world. Similarly, Steam reviews for Cyberpunk 2077 frequently highlight users who have logged over 1,000 hours in-game, suggesting that the optional content acts as a primary draw for the community.

As CD Projekt Red looks toward the future with upcoming titles like The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2, the studio faces the challenge of maintaining this standard. While the CEO of CD Projekt Red recently noted that fully AI-generated games are a possibility, he expressed skepticism about that path, suggesting the studio remains focused on the human-led design processes that defined their previous hits.

For now, the studio’s track record—marked by quests like the memorable Land of a Thousand Fables—remains a cornerstone of their reputation among RPG fans.