What language is Cyberpunk 2077 coded in?

Cyberpunk 2077 is coded primarily in C++ using CD Projekt Red‘s proprietary REDengine 4 game engine. The REDengine, in all of its iterations, has been coded in C++ since its inception.

As an avid gamer and industry commentator, I couldn‘t wait to get my hands on Cyberpunk 2077. This futuristic first-person RPG pushes the boundaries of open-world games with its incredibly detailed Night City environment and emphasis on player choice shaping the narrative.

But what enables such an ambitious title with complex AI, real-time graphics, and rich gameplay systems? The answer lies in understanding why C++ is the coding language of choice for AAA game developers.

Why C++ leads the game industry

C++ has been the dominant language in game development for decades. According to the 2020 Game Developers Conference Survey, C++ was used by nearly 71% of game studios – far exceeding languages like C# and Java. There are some compelling reasons why C++ rules the world of game coding:

Native Speed and Hardware Control

C++ compiles directly to machine code without intermediary languages or interfaces. This allows the resulting executable to run incredibly fast with full access to your computer‘s or console‘s hardware resources.

Developers can tap directly into APIs for 3D graphics, physics processing, audio, input devices, and network communications. Compiled C++ code Even the most demanding real-time, reactive games can run smoothly at high frame rates.

Squeeze Every Ounce of Performance

By manipulating memory, multi-threading, and data structures at a low level, experienced C++ developers can wring out maximum performance. Code can be streamlined to only include essential features needed for the game.

As an example, for a game like Cyberpunk 2077 where immersive world simulation and environmental physics are pillars of the gameplay, C++ enables this complex technology to run efficiently even on mid-range PCs and last-gen consoles.

Cross-Platform Support

C++ code can be compiled to run on a wide range of platforms from Windows and Linux PCs to PlayStation, Xbox, Android and iOS devices. This makes C++ a versatile, portable language for game developers looking to target multiple platforms.

While some platform-dependent changes are required during compilation, generally the C++ core game code can be reused across platforms with relatively minimal effort compared to other languages.

Interoperability with Game Engines

Nearly all popular game engines are written in C++ under the hood, including Unreal Engine, Unity, CryEngine, Lumberyard, and CD Projekt‘s own REDengine. These engines provide abstraction layers for common tasks like rendering, physics, animation, audio, VR, and tools.

But the engines themselves are coded natively in C++ for speed, hardware access, and cross-platform abilities. So C++ knowledge is invaluable for engine mastery or even modifying engines.

C++ Capabilities Powering Cyberpunk 2077

So how did C++ enable such an expansive, immersive world like Cyberpunk 2077‘s Night City? CD Projekt tapped into various core areas of C++ and also built proprietary tech:

Detailed 3D Graphics Rendering

C++ graphics libraries like DirectX 12 or Vulkan were used for rendering the game‘s high-fidelity models, environments, lighting, post-processing effects, and animations in real-time. REDengine 4 employs advanced rendering techniques only possible through C++‘s speed and hardware manipulation.

Complex AI Systems

The citizens of Night City have robust behavioral systems and schedules enabled by C++ logic. Interactive conversation systems are also coded in C++. This provides more natural, context-aware dialogue between the player and NPCs.

Physics and World Simulation

C++ manages the game‘s real-time physics, cloth, water, and destruction simulation systems for immersive environments that react to the player‘s actions. No other language can calculate thousands of simultaneous physics interactions at high speed.

Procedural Generation

Parts of Night City use procedural techniques coded in C++ to automatically generate buildings, roads, terrain, vegetation and other assets rather than solely hand-crafting. This greatly enhanced the scale possible for the world.

Smooth Multi-Threaded Operations

C++ provides fine-grained control over multi-threaded execution which Cyberpunk 2077 leverages for scaling across CPU cores. Animation, AI logic, audio, physics and other subsystems can run in parallel taking advantage of modern multi-core processors.

The Evolution of REDengine

CD Projekt Red made the wise decision early on to invest in their own proprietary game engine rather than licensing commercial offerings. The C++-based REDengine would evolve over four iterations powering The Witcher games long before Cyberpunk 2077 entered full production.

REDengine Edition  Year Released       Game Powered
----------------------------------------------------
    REDengine 1      2007            The Witcher  
    REDengine 2      2011         The Witcher 2 
   REDengine 3       2013       The Witcher 3
----------------------------------------------------

With each new game, CD Projekt expanded the capabilities of REDengine alongside corresponding advances in real-time graphics, physics, AI, and open world techniques. When Cyberpunk 2077 development began in 2016, an upgraded REDengine 4 provided the advanced rendering, simulation, procedural, and multi-threading foundation needed.

Over that decade, one key element remained unchanged – the C++ code base driving the engine and tools. For CD Projekt, C++‘s speed, efficiency, and hardware control made it the obvious choice rather than shifting to another language even as their games grew tremendously in scope and complexity.

C++ – The Game Industry‘s Veteran Coder

I‘ve highlighted why C++ is so critical for game development, especially regarding high budget, high expectation AAA productions. But C++ has been the trusted workhorse for many game studios long before Cyberpunk 2077. Let‘s look at a few major games from the past decade powered by C++ code:

Year  Game                     Studio
---------------------------------------------------
2011  Skyrim               Bethesda Game Studios  
2013  Grand Theft Auto V   Rockstar Games
2016  Uncharted 4          Naughty Dog   
2017  Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Nintendo
2018  Red Dead Redemption 2 Rockstar Games 
2022  Elden Ring               FromSoftware

As you can see, C++ excels across various genres from open world adventures like Skyrim to cinematic action in Uncharted 4 and the intricate combat systems of Elden Ring. Of course many other games rely on C++, but this list shows its versatility across AAA studios.

And looking ahead, upcoming highly-anticipated titles like GTA 6, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Starfield and others will undoubtedly leverage C++‘s capabilities for their complex next-gen designs.

C++ Powers Game Engines

Earlier I touched upon how C++ enables interoperability with major game engines. But why exactly are these engines themselves written in C++?

Simply put, they serve as platforms on top of which games are built. So the same advantages C++ offers those games are crucial for the underlying engines:

Speed – Real-time editing and workflow tools need to be performant for developers. Engines handle immense workloads.

Hardware Access – Low-level access allows extending engines via plugins/modding and integration with peripherals.

Cross-Platform – Engines compile to multiple platforms using C++‘s portability.

Without C++, commercial engines like Unreal and Unity could not achieve their featues while remaining performant and flexible. The language is ingrained into their architecture.

The Costs and Challenges of C++ Game Development

Given C++‘s dominance in game dev, why don‘t all studios use it? While extremely powerful, C++ has a steep learning curve and can introduce project risks that should be carefully managed:

• C++ programming skills are more rare compared to languages like C# or Java. Veterans with game C++ expertise can be costly to hire and retain.
• Code maintenance can become costly over long projects compared to higher-level languages with better self-documentation capabilities.
• Memory management errors, security vulnerabilities, synchronization bugs and hardware-specific issues take considerable expertise to diagnose and fix.
• Lacking high-level features like reflection or automated garbage collection means more boilerplate code to manage.

For CD Projekt‘s talented team and many other AAA studios, the benefits outweigh the costs since game technology has few alternatives matching C++‘s capabilities. But smaller indie developers often choose friendlier languages accepting some performance tradeoffs.

All said, C++ remains the undisputed industry leader for developing complex, high performance games like Cyberpunk 2077 while powering underlying game engines. Its speed, control and efficiency enable groundbreaking graphics, physics, AI and simulations simply not possible to the same degree in other languages.

Despite rising challengers like C#, C++ continues proving itself the champion coder for both current and coming generations of amazing worlds we love exploring as gamers. Every studio leveraging C++ for their game benefits from this veteran language‘s abilities honed over decades.

So when I boot up Cyberpunk 2077 and soak in Night City‘s sights and sounds, I appreciate even more the C++ mastery that CD Projekt wielded to craft this technical marvel. And I eagerly look forward to what the code wizards of C++ have in store to push interactive entertainment to even greater heights!