It's All About the ~Immersion~, Apparently
CDPR's main reason, the one they've been sticking to since day one, is immersion. It's their entire brand. They didn't want you to just control V; they wanted you to be V. Every conversation, every shocking moment, every time you look down and see your own chromed-out hands-it was all designed to be a deeply personal, first-person experience.
Honestly? We get it. The narrative hits different when you're seeing it through the character's eyes. Their "Directive Cutscene System" seamlessly blends gameplay with story moments, so there are no jarring transitions. It’s a deliberate artistic choice, and in a 2023 investor call, the studio said they had “no regrets” about it. That’s some serious main character energy right there.
The Technical Debt is Real 😬
Okay, let's get into the messy part. Adding a third-person mode isn't just a switch they can flip. It would require a total teardown of the game's core systems. V's character model, the one you see in photo mode, doesn't actually have a full set of animations for running, shooting, or just, you know, existing in the world. The game was built with the assumption that you'd never see those movements, so why waste resources animating them?
Creating hundreds of new, polished animations would be a massive undertaking. Beyond that:
- Combat would be broken. The entire system of aiming, taking cover, and enemy AI is balanced for a first-person view. A third-person camera would completely change the geometry of fights, and not in a good way.
- Night City would look... weird. The environments were designed to be seen from a specific height and angle. A third-person camera would expose all the unpolished corners and visual tricks not meant for player eyes.
- Cutscenes would have to be remade. Every single in-engine scene would need to be re-staged and re-animated for a cinematic perspective.
The amazing modders in the community have given us a taste of third-person with mods like the "JB - TPP MOD." And while these mods are heroic, they also highlight all the problems: a janky camera, glitchy animations, and clunky combat. It's proof that a proper version would require a massive, official overhaul.
So, It’s Never Happening? 💀
Yeah, it’s not happening. With the release of Phantom Liberty and the 2.0 update, CDPR has basically closed the book on major new features for Cyberpunk 2077. When asked about it recently, their official line was a very clear: "we have no such plans."
Their focus has shifted to the future, specifically the sequel codenamed "Project Orion." Will that game have a third-person mode? Who knows. Maybe they’ll learn their lesson, or maybe they’ll double down. For the original Cyberpunk 2077, however, the dream is officially dead.
So, for now, we're stuck inside V's head, for better or for worse. Maybe that was the real cyberpunk dystopia all along. Stay strong, chooms.
