‘No, The Half-Year Montage Is Not Cut Content’: Cyberpunk 2077 Act 1 Was Designed To Prevent A Meandering, Unfocused Experience

Although Cyberpunk 2077 was released in a rather poor state in 2020 which required multiple updates to fix, the story was always considered to be among the game's strongest points. Act 1, however, has long remained one of the most controversial parts of the game's engaging story, especially the half-year montage that propels V to the top of the Night City's mercenary world, setting the stage for the heist that would put the proper story in motion.

For a long time, it has been speculated that the half-year montage replaced cut content, but that is not the case, as Act 1 was reportedly designed the way it was from the beginning to avoid a meandering, unfocused experience that would have made most players bounce off the game.

Speaking on Bluesky, Cyberpunk 2077's sequel creative director Igor Sarzynski commented on Act 1, detailing why extending it wouldn't have made for a better experience, making an interesting comparison with the first movie in the original Star Wars trilogy: "No, it wouldn't. It's like saying we should spend more time on Tatooine with farmer Luke before he got involved with all this Jedi stuff," Sarzynski said.

Besides, extending the story of Act 1 wouldn't have necessarily extended playtime for most players, as with open-world games, players are free to choose their own pace. More interestingly, however, the Cyberpunk 2077 creative director highlighted how the motivation in this portion of the game wouldn't have made for an engaging experience.

"The motivation / goal in this section of the game is pretty vague - 'get to the top' - which, prolonged and without stakes or pressure would result in a meandering, unfocused experience," Sarzynski explained.

In another message, the sequel creative director provided further clarification on this motivation being too vague: "Do jobs, make money, make reputation" - ok but what for? what are you trying to achieve? there would have to be a more specific goal for this section. 'Do stuff' without a clear hurdle to clear would make a lot of players bounce off the game."

This isn't just a vague prediction, according to Sarzynski, as building reputation "is not a specific, measurable goal. and it's not about my opinion, we have telemetry, UX lab, survey data." Feeling that a good balance was also struck in regards to the time to bond with Jackie, Sarzynski ultimately confirmed that the "half-year montage is not cut content. We always planned it like this."

Given that Act 1 remains one of the most hotly debated topics in Cyberpunk 2077, the community's opinion on the matter appears to be generally at odds with the way this story segment has been designed. Some like user Matthew C. McLean feel that the in-game reputation rating would have made the "reach the top" goal more tangible.

While setting a goal like reaching a certain level is not the kind of storytelling CD Projekt Red wants to do, Sarzynski admits that something of the sort would have been doable, but "it would require a significant rewrite and introducing a storyline that contextualizes and structures this getting to the top."

Likewise, others would have loved to experience V reaching the top, or spending more time with Jackie, although in some ways, not having had that much time with this likeable character made the events of the heist even more impactful.

Considering how it's possible to spend so much time in Night City completing meaningful content that further fleshes out the franchise's universe, I understand why the developer made some sacrifices to keep the narrative pace tighter. However, it's undeniable that, for a first playthrough, the half-year montage can feel disappointing.

Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see if the community's opinion on this matter will influence the development of the second entry in the series, which promises to be an even bigger game.

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