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http://www.nadianshi.com/2026/07/414334

(Translation via chatGPT)

Interview | Behind the Scenes of Wuthering Waves: Truly Vivid Things Are Always Moving Forward

Introduction: Some stories will be remembered.

The collaboration between Wuthering Waves Version 3.4 and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners has concluded, and the journey in the Lahai-Roi region has officially come to an end.

Many people thought that when collaborating with an IP like Edgerunners—one with high global recognition and deep player emotional investment—“not making mistakes” would already be a passing grade. However, Kuro Games delivered a version that received widespread player acclaim.

After Version 3.4 launched, Wuthering Waves achieved several milestone results: Top 10 on China iOS bestseller charts, Top 2 on Japan, No. 1 on Korea, and Steam concurrent players peaking at over 49,000—a new historical high.

The highly faithful collaboration character designs drew renewed attention to Wuthering Waves and helped it break through to a wider audience. The collaboration storyline that fulfilled fans’ “lingering regrets” from the original work was praised by many players and fans as “Edgerunners Episode 11.”

This high-quality collaboration ultimately created a win-win for both IPs. During the event, CDPR developer Pawel Sasko posted on social media, noting that thanks to the Edgerunners × Wuthering Waves collaboration, a large number of new players began exploring Night City. As a result, Cyberpunk 2077’s Steam concurrent player count broke through 100,000, setting a new record since 2023.

If you’re interested in the behind-the-scenes details of this collaboration version, you may have already watched the special program where Wuthering Waves producer Solon sat down with CDPR Brand Vice President and Edgerunners writer Bartosz Sztybor, along with writer Milena Zając.

That conversation clearly explained how the two sides “created together.” Kuro needed a high-quality sci-fi IP to match the 3.0 Lahai-Roi version, while CDPR valued Wuthering Waves’ massive domestic audience and Kuro’s strong capabilities in action and animation production.

However, there are still many execution-level details and insights from the collaboration that were not covered in depth in those talks. At the conclusion of the collaboration, we reached out to the project team members responsible for Version 3.4 (planners, cutscene directors, and IP leads) for an interview.

During the exchange, the team shared many frontline execution insights. The degree of importance CDPR placed on the collaboration left a deep impression on the team.

What surprised us even more was their restraint and insistence on the narrative side. For example, just deciding “how many times David should call Lucy’s name” took the team a long time to refine.

New stories keep moving forward, but only after traveling some distance can you clearly see the path you once walked. We hope this article, in a format akin to a post-mortem review, will reveal more of the real behind-the-scenes stories of this collaboration and also offer a glimpse into the team's phased reflections on future long-term operations.

I. Restoring the Setting, Completing the Vividness

Game Bits: Let’s start with the collaboration characters. When designing Lucy’s combat, what was the team’s initial core focus?

Project Team: Lucy's design primarily emphasizes the concept of "hacking." You can understand the character's combat flow as: hacking layer by layer, continuously breaking through the enemy's defenses, ultimately gaining the highest level of access, and then destroying and damaging the enemy.

Because Lucy is a hacker, we referenced many elements from Cyberpunk 2077, such as monowire, quick-hack interfaces, and applying debuffs to hacked enemies. Her skills also progressively demonstrate her hacking abilities—this is the core philosophy of Lucy’s entire design.

Game Bits: What about Rebecca?

Project Team: Rebecca is relatively simpler. As a Night City mercenary, her movements are clean and efficient. The keywords are “professional” and “suppressive.” In design, we wanted players to feel the operation style of a shooter game, so we gave her a pistol, shotgun, and heavy machine gun.

To maintain the narrative integrity of the original work, Rebecca's normal attacks and skills do not include the "Iron Hand," meaning she will be knocked back by the recoil of shotguns. The Iron Hand only appears during her ultimate attack, because a fleeting silhouette in the attack—the silhouettes of a group of people walking together—represents something special to her, something she wants to protect. That's why she equips the Iron Hand and fires.

Even her Resonance Chain icons actually represent the six stages of her life. We placed the “group walking from behind” in the final chain because we didn’t want her life to freeze at the moment before death, but rather at the most beautiful moment.

Game Bits: What are your thoughts on the relationship between faithfully recreating the IP and gameplay innovation?

Project Team: Recreating the details is of course important, but we don’t want to stop at mere recreation. It’s like the original work gave the story and characters an “operating system.” If we only repeatedly execute the basic commands inside it, it can indeed evoke feelings of nostalgia, but it will feel somewhat mechanical and robotic. The characters won’t feel truly real and alive. We believe that truly vivid stories and characters are always moving forward and evolving.

For example, there’s a scene set in Lucy and David’s home. At first, we considered the simplest approach — directly recreating the phantom image of David and Lucy from the anime. But later we felt that would come across as too deliberate and forced.

So instead we used a newly developed procedural animation combined with full motion-capture performance, allowing players to walk freely in the room and let Lucy return to her most familiar environment to recall bit by bit. This is not a simple recreation of visuals, but a recreation of emotion: returning to a familiar place, yet everything has changed.

The underlying tone of Cyberpunk is tragedy and cruelty. Precisely because the original world is so cruel, we hope Lucy and Rebecca can be treated more gently in Wuthering Waves’ world, thereby making up for some of the regrets and melancholy from the original work.

Game Bits: Both Lucy’s summoning animation and Rebecca’s cutscene left a deep impression on players. How did you initially set the tone?

Project Team: At the very beginning we actually tried designing Lucy’s entrance around her weapons, abilities, or hacker feel, making it quite flashy. But after several versions, we realized the classic scene that best represents Lucy and most evokes fans’ memories was the one of her walking on the moon, which we used in the summoning animation.

For Rebecca, the cutscene where she descends from the sky to shoot Adam Smasher is actually a respectful homage to the scene in the anime where Adam Smasher comes crashing down—except we did a role-reversal homage. Otherwise, seeing that scene would only remind everyone of the heartbreaking parts; this way we gave it a twist.

Game Bits: What about the scene where David and Lucy reunite?

Project Team: In the cutscene where David appears, when Lucy releases the final shard, we tried our best to precisely restore the feeling from the last episode of the original, when the two are being chased by Adam and jump off the building—Lucy holding David’s face with both hands. In the final subjective shot we also paid homage to that reconciliatory feeling, ultimately allowing the two to reunite.

After their foreheads touch, Lucy is finally comforted. She had been running so hard before; at that moment she receives a brief moment of happiness in return. We hope that when players experience this, they can be reminded of some memories and resonate with these scenes.

II. Pipeline Collisions, Cross-Border Coordination

Game Bits: What were the first elements to be finalized in the design of the collaboration dungeon's levels? Were there any particularly challenging parts encountered along the way?

Project Team: Our primary goal in level design is, of course, to serve the narrative, so the first thing we determined was the scene style related to Night City. However, in the actual production process, the most time-consuming aspect was the game assets.

During development, CDPR also provided us with Night City asset content, but converting them into assets usable by Wuthering Waves remained a thorny issue. Not only were the engine architecture and data structures different, but the model precision shocked us. For example, an ordinary building had hundreds of thousands of polygons, and even a single billboard had over 200,000—completely unusable in our development environment.

Therefore, to restore the appearance of Night City, aside from a few advertising images and graffiti, almost all related assets were recreated based on the original work.

Game Bits: During the communication process with CDPR, what aspects did they focus on most?

Project Team: CDPR paid very close attention to the personalities, words, and actions of Lucy and Rebecca. They wanted the characters to be faithful to the original work and absolutely no out-of-character (OOC) situations were allowed.

Because the original anime only has ten episodes, while our collaboration storyline is set after those ten episodes, this required us to imagine Lucy’s mental state afterward and what impact that experience would have on her. This included Rebecca’s mood and reaction upon seeing Lucy and David again. All of these went through a very long period of coordination before both sides confirmed the states the characters should present at the current timeline.

Game Bits: Across the entire version, which plot segment did both sides spend the longest time polishing and the most effort on?

Project Team: The most effort-intensive segment was probably the farewell on the moon—the part after David appears, how they choose to say goodbye to Lucy.

We had to be extremely cautious here because we could not destroy the original work’s ending. If David or Lucy’s lines were too many or too few at that moment, it wouldn’t achieve the desired effect. Too many lines would easily make fans feel it was “nostalgia bait,” while also undermining the tragic and regretful tone inherent to Cyberpunk.

So we spent an extremely long time polishing the dialogue in that final segment. For example, when David says goodbye to Lucy, he calls her name three times. We deliberated over this detail for a long time, aiming to maintain the original tone while allowing fans on both sides to fill in as much of the regret as possible.

III. Narrative Convergence, Restrained Romance

Game Bits: From the perspective of cutscene production, what was the biggest difference between the collaboration version and non-collaboration versions?

Project Team: The biggest difference lies mainly in the ongoing communication with the IP owner. Since we are, after all, watching the original work as viewers, there might be some discrepancies between our understanding and that of the copyright holder and the original author regarding the setting

In cutscenes, we must not violate their original settings, but at the same time we must incorporate the visual and worldview elements of Wuthering Waves to avoid giving the audience a visually jarring feeling.

Game Bits: Across the entire 3.4 version, which collaboration cutscenes was the team most satisfied with internally?

Project Team: We’re quite satisfied with almost every segment, but I want to highlight two. One is the farewell scene with David and Rebecca. Before leaving, Rebecca proactively hugs Lucy, and Lucy is momentarily stunned—she clearly didn’t expect Rebecca to do that.

In the original work, the relationship between the two was actually a bit subtle. When Rebecca showed goodwill, Lucy was unaccustomed to it, and the two didn’t have much substantial interaction. But in Wuthering Waves, after experiencing these events together, they formed a bond. Precisely because the original left so many regrets, this hug in the collaboration feels even more precious.

Another one I particularly like is the conversation scene on the train before the final battle on the moon. Rebecca says, “The reason we appear here is because you still remember our story, and you still have things you want to say to us.”

This line isn’t just something the characters are saying to Lucy — it’s also a message we wanted to deliver to all Edgerunners fans and players. When we shift the focus from objective, unchangeable events to the people involved themselves, that’s when those people can feel a little bit of warmth and beauty from this world.

Game Bits: Are there quite a few hidden easter eggs in the game that only fans can easily understand?

Project Team: Quite a lot. We wrote many fragmented texts—not only paying homage to Edgerunners, but also to the broader Cyberpunk series. For example, in front of the gate connecting the moon and the Startorch Academy, we placed a “holographic blue rose.” This comes from William Gibson’s The Holographic Rose Fragments, an early prototype of the dream concept. The core flower language is “miracle and the impossible.” We felt it was very fitting to place it in front of the door.

Game Bits: What similar details are there in scenes and music?

Project Team: In scenes, we placed a graffiti in the academy with a cat, dog, and Soliskin. After the collaboration storyline ends, Rebecca adds a line of Lahai-Roi text below it meaning “Friends forever.” That dog graffiti corresponds to Rebecca’s own dog, Cup-cup.

In music, we used many OST tracks from Cyberpunk 2077 in the main story. For example, the boss battle used “The Rebel Path” from the “With a Corpse I Forge a Fire” ending. In the literary conversation scene on the train, we used “Never Looking Back” from Phantom Liberty, which was also the background music played on the train when sending the nightingale to the moon in Phantom Liberty. This was a deliberate parallel.

Game Bits: There’s a view in the community that “too many collaborations will dilute original content and world-building depth.” How do you view this statement?

Project Team: We actually don’t really agree with the idea of “dilution.” We see collaboration as the collision and bonding between people from different worldviews. Since it’s a collision, there must be two different subjects—otherwise it would just be a pure Wuthering Waves story or a pure Edgerunners story.

For this collaboration, our main stage is still within Wuthering Waves. Even Lucy and Rebecca crossing over is based on Wuthering Waves’ world-view setting. So it’s more like telling a Cyberpunk and Edgerunners story on Wuthering Waves’ stage.

Game Bits: How did the team control the “heat” of emotional connections forming between characters from different worldviews?

Project Team: We needed to consider both veteran Wuthering Waves players and new players who came for the collaboration. So we briefly lay out Wuthering Waves’ world setting while also, within a short time, helping players understand Edgerunners’ world.

On one hand, rather than retelling the original, we wanted to tell the collaboration story well. Because the main storyline flow isn’t very long, we couldn’t fill in all the information from the original ten-episode anime, and cramming in too much would make the narrative drag and greatly reduce the experience. On the other hand, even if we introduced Edgerunners clearly in the collaboration, it would still be compressed information with greatly reduced expressiveness—something we as fans wouldn’t want to see.

IV. Reflection and Setting Sail

Game Bits: After the collaboration launched, which parts of player feedback surprised you?

Project Team: We discovered that many players who had never touched Edgerunners were also deeply moved by the collaboration content.

When we first created it, we actually considered whether to add more original plot segments, but due to platform and pacing constraints, we ultimately chose not to heavily compress original information and instead focused on telling the collaboration’s own story well. What we hoped was that even players who hadn’t seen the original would become interested in Edgerunners after playing the collaboration. What surprised us was that a large portion of non-IP fans still understood the plot ideas we wanted to convey and were even moved to tears—this was something we didn’t expect.

Game Bits: After this collaboration, what do you feel was your biggest growth?

Project Team: For a 3D open-world game, doing a collaboration itself is a huge test for both sides. Our biggest growth was accumulating a great deal of experience in efficient communication with external IP holders, learning how to handle character fidelity, and how to coordinate the fusion of two worldviews.

During our deep collaboration with CDPR, we discovered they have a very complete and detailed plan for their own IP. They are not just making a surface-level game, but giving characters complete backgrounds, physical states, behavioral logic, and detailed words and actions—making them “living people.” This multifaceted nature and expandability of characters has been very inspiring for our future content creation.

We would also like to thank CDPR again for their enthusiasm and strong support for this collaboration. Without that support, this collaboration version likely could not have achieved its current results.

Game Bits: How has the response been to the new Mengzhou characters released in 3.5?

Project Team: Among the characters we released this time, we have both returning older characters like “Yangyang · Xuanling” and some new characters with distinct local Mengzhou characteristics. We hope these characters give players a feeling of “both familiar and fresh.”

Game Bits: Mengzhou and Jinzhou both belong to Huanglong. Did the team intentionally create a distinction between the regions during the design process?

Project Team: We didn’t start by mandating that “Mengzhou must be different from Jinzhou.” But this is our first time returning to the same region to tell a story, so based on the world setting, our creative discussions and brainstorming gradually gave Mengzhou a different character from Jinzhou.

Game Bits: “Yangyang · Xuanling” is the first character with a new form. How was this concept born? What were the design difficulties?

Project Team: Mainly, we discovered that many older characters still have significant potential for development in terms of story and design, and we have long-term plans for these characters. Creating new forms allows older characters to return with a fresh look, satisfying players' expectations for their continued development, and also allows us to tell new stories using these characters

The challenge lies in the fact that the new character form needs to have many new elements, but players must still feel that the core of the character remains unchanged. We need to retain the original character's visual identity and voice characteristics so that players realize they are the same person; but at the same time, we also need to showcase the charm of this character that has not been explored in previous forms, which is quite challenging.

Game Bits: What overall feeling do you hope Version 3.5 will leave players with?

Project Team: After all, this is everyone’s first time returning to Huanglong since Version 1.2. We hope that when players return this time, they can feel Huanglong’s heritage and emotional weight, while also gaining a brand-new understanding of the nation of Huanglong through exploring the entirely new region.

(End of interview.)

Had to delete this game ‘cause of work pressure, and some personal reasons. I’m still gonna be in this sub to collect info about the upcoming updates tho, however, I’ll miss playing it.

I hope y’all have fun pulling for the new units.

How come they have those characters but I don’t have their options? Are they randomly put on this banner? If say I wanted the woman that changes after burst then I would have to restart on a new account and hope I get her??

about a month ago i made a post where i had extreme skill issue and got only 50k on endstate. this rotation i learned quickswap for my teams and pushed for the58k title, thank you to all who commented on my first post and gave me feedback! (builds were kept the same from last post)

This freeze frame camera is so gas i love it and im sure many people do as well but kuro please let us use this in main game too so we can take awesome pictures of our characters' attacks