Phantom Liberty's Chimera tank encounter in Cyberpunk 2077 was reportedly so intricate that developers spent two years "iterating repeatedly" to perfect it

The Chimera boss fight in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is one of the expansion's flashiest set pieces — a Ghost in the Shell-esque tank that chases you down before hunkering in one spot for the kill. It turns out all that spectacle came at a steep production cost: according to CD Projekt Red, the fight took two full years to make.

Where the Number Comes From

The figure came out of the latest episode of the AnsweRED Podcast, Episode 33, titled "Growing the Vision: Boston and the Future of Cyberpunk." Art director Paweł Mielniczuk, who hosted the segment, said: "We were iterating — I think it was two years to make this boss fight work. We were reiterating over over."

The discussion also touched on the broader production challenges CD Projekt Red faced while developing Cyberpunk 2077, with the Chimera serving as a case study in how complicated the studio's biggest assets can be.

A Nexus of Every Discipline

Game director Gabe Amatangelo explained why the Chimera demanded so much coordination. "Sometimes we're making content that's a nexus point of different disciplines; the Chimera is a great example of that," he said. "It was gameplay, narrative, art, worldbuilding."

He recalled exchanging reference material with Mielniczuk during development: "I remember Paweł and I were sending each other YouTube videos of various different military equipment of [mini-guns]. When this chimera rises up, we just want it to terrify you with this overwhelming sound."

Amatangelo said the repeated redesigns were about balance: "So many moving parts… Sometimes it was too gameplay, sometimes it was too narrative, sometimes too art demonstration. It was about striking a balance and I think the three of us heavily got into it and went, 'Okay beat by beat, let's do this.'"

Four Redesigns and a Hefty Price Tag

Mielniczuk later added that the tank itself went through four iterations. "We were doing the tank I think four times, changing equipment, the weapons," he said. Creative director Igor Sarzyński put a number on the result: "One of the most expensive art assets I think ever."

Was It Worth It?

Whether the investment paid off is debatable. The chase leading into the fight looks impressive, but it echoes a PS3-era design sensibility — cinematic wow-factor sequences where the player can't actually do much. The arena fight itself is fairly static, with the tank not moving around much once the real battle begins.

Still, the episode offers a rare look behind the curtain: a single boss fight, rebuilt four times over two years, sitting at the intersection of gameplay, narrative, art, and worldbuilding — and, by one of its own directors' admission, among the priciest art assets the studio has ever produced.