As CD Projekt Red continues to silently work on Project Orionthe sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, the most passionate fans did not wait to bring Night City back to life. Thanks to a well-known modder on the PC scene, Cyberpunk 2077 has just been given a second visual lease of life, and the result is so stunning that you’d think it was an official remaster.
It is on the side of Digital Dreams that we owe this visual performance. On his YouTube channel, the creator published a gameplay sequence shot entirely in 8Kwith ray tracing enabled And all effects pushed to the maximum. All powered by a monster of power: RTX 5090 graphics card And Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor.
The visual rendering exceeds all expectations. Denser shadows, realistic lighting, striking reflections… each street, each neon light in Night City gains in intensity. Some night scenes even border on photorealism.
Community mods for a complete overhaul
This version is not official. This is a combination of visual modscreated by enthusiasts, and carefully selected by Digital Dreams to enhance the game engine. The shaders applied radically modify the atmosphere: sharper textures, more detailed NPCs, light effects worthy of a futuristic film noir. Although the exact list of mods has not yet been released, visual edits visible in the video leave little room for doubt: it is the best rendering ever obtained on the game to date.
This visual remaster does not modify the missions or the story, but completely transforms the sensory experience. For those who want to rediscover the game in an “ultimate” version, this is the ideal solution.
Performance reserved for the most powerful PCs
Be careful though: to reach such a graphic level, you need a PC out of the norm. The machine used by Digital Dreams is equivalent to a high-end workstation. 8K rendering with ray tracing requires a next-generation graphics card, lots of RAM, and an ultra-fast SSD.
But even with a more modest setup, some elements of mods can be used to enhance the experience without aiming for total technical excellence. The community remains very active in this area, with hundreds of variants available on platforms like Nexus Mods.
Project Orion, hope after the visual slap
This free and community remaster asks a question: what is CD Projekt Red really preparing for the future? If Night City can already be this beautiful in 2025, what will it be like? Project Oriondeveloped with the latest Unreal Engine technologies?
After a chaotic launch in 2020, the Polish studio has raised the bar with Phantom Liberty and a series of updates. But today it is often the fans who extend the life of the most emblematic games by injecting them with their passion and expertise. What if the real future of Cyberpunk was already beginning… thanks to them?