Fans have believed one thing about ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ for five years, now the creative director just set the record straight

A top creative director at CD Projekt Red just ended a long-running debate about Cyberpunk 2077. Igor Sarzyński cleared up a popular fan theory that has been around since before the game even launched. The theory was about the elevators in the game, and fans have been discussing it for years.

Sarzyński has been with CD Projekt Red since 2011. He started as a QA tester and slowly moved up over the years. He became a cinematic designer, then a senior cinematic designer, and later a cinematic lead. In 2020, he became a cinematic director, and by January 2024, he was promoted to creative director. He directed the story for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty and will help lead the next Cyberpunk game.

According to Game Rant, Sarzyński posted a message on Bluesky to address the elevator theory. He explained that the elevators in Cyberpunk 2077 are not hidden loading screens, which is what many fans believed for years. This theory first appeared in September 2020 when a Reddit user suggested that elevator rides would take longer on HDD drives than SSD drives because they might be covering up loading times.

The elevators exist simply because they make sense in Night City

Even though CD Projekt Red developers tried to shut down this theory before, it kept coming back online. Sarzyński made it clear that elevators appear in Night City just because it makes sense for a big city to have them. He added that the game’s engine could even make the elevators see-through if they wanted. He defended the REDengine by calling it a miracle and said he would not accept any criticism of it.

One user on Bluesky responded by asking why CD Projekt Red switched to Unreal Engine 5 if their own engine was so good. The studio is moving to Unreal Engine 5 for future projects like The Witcher 4 and the next Cyberpunk game. 

Sarzyński replied that the studio wants to focus on making games instead of building engines. Players who want to experience what the REDengine can do can see its full potential in the current game.

This matches what other CD Projekt Red leaders have said before. Charles Tremblay, the vice president of technology, explained in November 2024 that switching to Unreal Engine 5 would help the studio manage multiple projects at the same time more easily. For those exploring Night City, the game offers dozens of missions to complete throughout the story.

CD Projekt Red currently has seven games in the works. Five of them are Witcher games, including The Witcher 4, which was shown at The Game Awards 2024. The studio plans to release three new Witcher games within six years. They also have a Witcher remake being made by Fool’s Theory and a Witcher spinoff called Project Sirius in development.

The studio has not announced release dates for any of these games yet. This includes the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel and a completely new game based on an original idea.