I’m just a regular player, not a CDPR insider, so my view of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is filtered through hype, patch notes, and way too many hours in Night City. From my 2026 chair, it’s wild to remember that Phantom Liberty was once just a promise and a Summer Game Fest tease. Back in 2023, CD Projekt Red confirmed that more details about Cyberpunk 2077’s one and only major expansion were coming soon. Phantom Liberty was set to take the spotlight during Summer Game Fest on June 8, and the marketing campaign was expected to kick off around the same time. At the time, that felt huge. Now it feels like ancient history, but it’s still a useful reminder of how CDPR tried to handle hype differently.
The studio had just celebrated The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt hitting 50 million copies sold, and then it dropped hints about Phantom Liberty’s imminent release in the coming months. Some reports guessed a launch window between June 8 and early July, if the sources were correct. They were not, at least not exactly. The actual launch came on September 26, 2023. But the important part for me was the signal: CDPR said the expansion would be present at Summer Game Fest: Play Days. That Play Days mention suggested something deeper than a trailer, maybe an in-depth demonstration. And honestly, after the base game’s rocky launch, I wanted proof more than promises.
The tease that actually worked
CDPR also shared a new image of the expansion’s star, Idris Elba, as agent Solomon Reed. That was a smart move. It gave fans a closer look at the character and made the expansion feel real without dumping a giant spoiler reel on us. We still knew very little about the DLC, including its official launch date, but that was about to change. Looking back, I think CDPR chose a more concise marketing campaign for Phantom Liberty, and that was probably a lesson learned from past instances of excessive hype. I respect that. I don’t need a three-year countdown; I need a clear date, a good demo, and a reason to care.
CDPR is known for large-scale expansions for The Witcher 3, and Phantom Liberty was shaping up to be no exception. According to a report at the time, almost half of CDPR’s total developers were busy with Phantom Liberty as of April 2023. Substantial resources were also allocated to the new Witcher game, codenamed Polaris. That tells me the studio was juggling a lot. It’s also worth noting that the expansion’s progress since 2021 was reportedly notably smoother compared to the development of Cyberpunk 2077. I hope that pattern followed CDPR’s future projects too, because there are many of them.
What I expected versus what I got
Waiting for a major expansion so long after the original game’s release is pretty uncommon in the industry. Players were hopeful it would be worth the wait. Everyone had their own expectations about how Phantom Liberty should fix Cyberpunk 2077’s biggest issues, but there was a common desire for Night City to feel more vibrant and alive as initially promised. I was in that camp. I wanted the city to breathe, not just look pretty in screenshots. And no, the metro system did not come to the game. I’ve made peace with that. Mostly. Just get over it already, right?
Here’s a quick then-and-now table from my perspective:
| Topic | Then, in 2023 | Now, in 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Major expansion tease | Released on September 26, 2023 |
| Marketing | Summer Game Fest: Play Days | Concise campaign, fewer empty promises |
| Star | Idris Elba as Solomon Reed | A memorable spy-thriller presence |
| Metro | Not coming | Still not coming |
| Night City | Hoped to feel more alive | Improved, but not a life sim |
What I appreciate most in 2026 is that Phantom Liberty didn’t try to be everything. It gave me a focused, tense, stylish slice of Night City with a strong cast and a reason to return. The marketing was shorter, the message was tighter, and the wait, while long, felt less like a circus than the base game’s rollout. I’m not saying it was perfect. I’m saying it was a better way to sell an expansion to players like me: show me the thing, give me a date, and let the game speak.
My final player take
If you’re reading this in 2026 and wondering why anyone was hyped about a June 8 Summer Game Fest tease, that’s fair. Phantom Liberty has been out for over two years now. But that moment mattered because it marked CDPR trying to rebuild trust with a quieter, more controlled campaign. I was skeptical then. I’m less skeptical now. The expansion didn’t magically turn Cyberpunk 2077 into the impossible game in my head, and the metro still isn’t here, but Phantom Liberty delivered enough of what I wanted. As a regular player, that’s a win. 🎮