CD Projekt Red Rejected Edgerunners Night City Destruction

CD Projekt Red has revealed that Studio Trigger repeatedly proposed destroying Night City and Arasaka while developing Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, but the ideas conflicted with the established storytelling rules of the Cyberpunk universe.

The discussion emerged from the company's AnsweRED Podcast episode published on October 21, 2026, featuring Edgerunners showrunner Bartosz Sztybor and executive producer Saya Elder.

According to Sztybor, the animation studio regularly explores ambitious changes to the setting, including the possibility of bringing down Night City and the powerful Arasaka corporation.

The same question reportedly returned during early work on Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2, demonstrating how far Studio Trigger was willing to push the franchise's established boundaries.

However, CD Projekt Red's creative team must consider how those proposals fit into a shared universe spanning Cyberpunk 2077, the anime, comics, and other stories.

Sztybor explained that some ideas initially appear incompatible with existing lore. Rather than rejecting every unusual proposal outright, the team sometimes works with Cyberpunk lore specialist Patrick Mills to find an alternative that preserves the original creative intention.

Elder similarly emphasized the importance of encouraging Studio Trigger's creativity while maintaining consistency across the franchise.

The discussion also reflects a broader storytelling principle behind Edgerunners: characters can challenge Night City's systems, but fundamentally changing the city itself raises questions about the identity of the setting.

These comments describe creative discussions rather than a deleted scene or confirmed alternate ending. CD Projekt Red has not announced plans to destroy Night City in a future Cyberpunk project.