Why Some Players Wanted More Jackie In Cyberpunk 2077
For a lot of Cyberpunk 2077 players, Jackie Welles is one of the standout companions in modern RPGs. He is friendly, loyal, and full of personality, which makes his early exit from the story hit especially hard. Some fans and writers have argued that the game does not give you enough time to bond with him before everything goes wrong.
That feeling has led to a long running wish from players: what if Act 1 of Cyberpunk 2077, the time before the big Arasaka heist, had been longer? More gigs with Jackie, more jobs in Watson, more moments in the car just talking about Night City. In short, a slower opening that lets the relationship breathe.
But according to Cyberpunk 2 creative director Igor Sarzynski, that change would not actually make Cyberpunk 2077 a better game. In a recent thread on Bluesky, he explained why extending the pre heist section was never the plan and why Jackie, as much as people love him, is not actually the core of the story CD Projekt wanted to tell.
Why CD Projekt Kept Act 1 Short And Focused
Sarzynski compared the idea of extending the opening to spending more time with Luke Skywalker as a farmer on Tatooine before Star Wars really kicks off. It might be cozy, but it does not move the main story forward. The longer you stay in that early phase, the more the game risks feeling meandering and unfocused.
He pointed out that some players already spend a huge amount of time in Watson, the starting district. Because the game gives you a lot of freedom and only loose objectives there, it is easy to sink 20 hours into side gigs and exploration before triggering the big heist mission. Making Act 1 officially longer on top of that would only widen that gap, without adding real narrative weight.
Sarzynski also pushed back on a common fan theory that the Jackie heavy montage sequence before the time skip is cut content. According to him, that was always how the team planned to show the growth of the V and Jackie partnership. For some players that fast montage is enough to create an emotional hook. For others it feels rushed. The team believes they struck a balance that supports the story they wanted to tell.
Under the hood there is also a structural reason Act 1 works the way it does. In Sarzynski’s words, V has no real progression in the first act because the actual story has not started yet. The core of Cyberpunk 2077 is V’s terminal situation, questions about what to do with the limited time left, and what it means to really live or chase immortality. None of that has kicked in before the heist goes wrong.
So Act 1 is more like the fuse than the explosion. It sets up the world, introduces key characters including Jackie, and gives you a taste of Night City. But if that setup drags on too long, many players who come for narrative momentum will lose interest before the real conflict appears.
Ludonarrative Dissonance And Lessons For Cyberpunk 2
One criticism Sarzynski did agree with is the tension between the story urgency and the open world design. Once V’s situation becomes critical, the narrative suggests you are racing against time. In practice, you can ignore the main quest and roam around Night City doing gigs, driving around, and playing with builds without any real consequences.
That gap between story and gameplay is known as ludonarrative dissonance. Sarzynski admitted that Cyberpunk 2077 struggles with it. He said that if he could do it again, he would better contextualize side content as another way of escaping death, by building your legend in the city. He even suggested he might lock a specific ending behind doing enough side gigs, which would tie optional content more tightly to V’s fate.
This kind of thinking offers a glimpse into how Cyberpunk 2 might be structured. Sarzynski stressed that CD Projekt’s games are story and character driven first, not sandboxes in the style of Grand Theft Auto. Most of their audience expects strong narrative hooks and emotional arcs more than a pure playground.
That means future games are unlikely to become endless open world hangouts without clear goals. Instead, we can probably expect:
- More deliberate pacing that gets you into the real conflict sooner.
- Side content that is better woven into the themes of mortality, legacy, and identity.
- Character relationships that support the main plot instead of pulling away from it.
Sarzynski also made it clear that Cyberpunk 2 will not simply be Cyberpunk 2077 rewritten according to fan feedback. The team is listening, but they already have a strong idea of what they want to build. They will not be doing the same story structure with piecemeal tweaks just to match specific requests about Jackie, Act 1 length, or other detailed complaints.
For players, the Jackie debate is a reminder of how tricky it is to balance emotional attachment with tight storytelling. Many of us would love more time with a favorite companion, but every extra hour spent in the intro delays the real heart of the game from starting. Cyberpunk 2077 chose to keep Jackie’s time limited but impactful and to let the heavier existential questions land only after his story ends.
As Cyberpunk 2 moves forward, it will be interesting to see how CD Projekt handles that tradeoff. Can they deliver a story that feels urgent and meaningful without making players feel rushed through their favorite characters and side quests? If Sarzynski’s comments are any indication, the next trip to Night City or beyond will lean even harder into strong narrative structure while trying to smooth out the rough edges where gameplay and story pull in different directions.
