CDPR outs Cyberpunk 2077 as a 'first-person RPG'

Polish games developer CD Projekt Red has finally demonstrated Cyberpunk 2077, after five years of near-total silence, and it comes with a surprise: The game will feature a first-person view, rather than the third-person view of its popular fantasy franchise The Witcher.

Announced via teaser trailer back in January 2013, the Gibsonesque Cyberpunk 2077 features a futuristic police division known as the Psycho Squad responsible for stopping criminals who 'overuse implants and substances that boost or otherwise alter the human body'. After the trailer dropped, though, CD Projekt Red went almost totally silent on the matter bar an announcement in 2015 that it would be concentrating on The Witcher franchise for the next two years, the claim that the game would be far bigger than The Witcher 3, already a hefty title, and the disclosure of an alleged security breach at the company in which an attacker was said to be ransoming internal files relating to the game.

Now, though, CD Projekt Red has fully opened its kimono, offering a demonstration of the game at the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) this week. In doing so, it has also revealed the biggest surprise of all: The game will ditch the third-person view of its The Witcher franchise for a first-person view better suited to the game's gunplay.

The company, however, rejects claims that it is developing a first-person shooter. 'You'll have many opportunities to see your character,' a representative claims on the game's official Twitter account. 'It’s going to be First Person RPG [Role Playing Game], not a FPS [First Person Shooter].'

More information on the game, including the gameplay demo shown off at E3 but not including a potential launch date, is available on the official website.