Cyberpunk 2077 is a 2020 action role-playing game developed by the Polish studio CD Projekt Red and published by CD Projekt. Based on Mike Pondsmith's Cyberpunk tabletop game series, the plot is set in the fictional metropolis of Night City, California, within the dystopianCyberpunk universe. The player assumes the role of V (voiced by Gavin Drea or Cherami Leigh), a mercenary who accidentally gets imbued with a cybernetic "bio-chip" containing an engram of legendary rockstar and terrorist Johnny Silverhand (voiced by Keanu Reeves). As Johnny's behaviour and memories begin overwriting V's own, the two must work together to separate from each other and save V's life.
Cyberpunk 2077 received praise from critics for its narrative, setting, and graphics. However, some of its gameplay elements received mixed responses. It was also widely criticized for bugs and glitches, particularly on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions. Sony removed it from the PlayStation Store from December 2020 to June 2021 while CD Projekt rectified some of the issues. CD Projekt became subject to investigations and class-action lawsuits for their perceived attempts at downplaying the severity of the technical problems before release; these were ultimately cleared with a settlement of US$1.85 million. Its total cost to develop and market (including updates and DLC) is reportedly between $436 million and $441 million, making it one of the most expensive video games to develop. By November 2024, the game had sold over 30 million units, making it one of the best-selling games of all time. A sequel, internally codenamed "Project Orion", was announced in October 2022. An expansion, Phantom Liberty, was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on 26 September 2023. A version of the base game and the expansion for macOS is scheduled to be released in 2025.
Gameplay
Cyberpunk 2077 is an action role-playing game played from a first-person perspective as V,[1][2] a mercenary whose voice,[3] face, hairstyle, body type and modifications, background, and clothing are customisable. There are also five attributes (Body, Intelligence, Reflexes, Technical Ability, and Cool) that can be customized to suit the player's gameplay style, with a sixth attribute — Relic - being introduced in the Phantom Liberty expansion.
The gameplay is flexible: the three primary play styles are Netrunner (hacking), Engineer (machinery), and Solo (combat). V has a number of maneuvers to reposition in combat, including sprinting, taking cover, double-jumping, and sliding;[4][5] many of these abilities can be unlocked or upgraded through cyberware implants installed by a "ripperdoc".[6][7] Weapon use increases accuracy and reloading speed, which are reflected in character animations.[8][9] Equipment, such as weapons and armor, is governed by a coloured tier system,[10] and is split into melee and ranged options. Melee strikes can be dealt with close-combat weapons.[11][12] There are three types of ranged weapons, all of which can be customised and modified—Power (with ricocheting bullets), Tech (which penetrates walls and enemies), and Smart (with homing bullets, only usable with specific cyberware).[13][14] The game has four types of damage that can be inflicted and resisted—Physical, Thermal, Electric, and Toxic.[15][16][17] The game can be completed without killing anyone (not including robots),[18] with non-lethal options for weapons and cyberware.[19]
Gameplay screenshot of the player-character completing a mission
The open world metropolis of Night City consists of seven regions: the corporate City Centre, immigrant-inhabited Watson, luxurious Westbrook, suburban Heywood, gang-infested Pacifica, industrial Santo Domingo, and Dogtown in the Phantom Liberty expansion. Its surrounding area, the Badlands, can also be explored.[20]Cyberpunk 2077 enables players to control their character from a first-person perspective. By default, a third-person perspective is only available while driving or during specific, rare moments in the story.[21][22] V owns an apartment and has access to a garage, and can purchase four additional apartments throughout the city.[11] There is a full day-night cycle and dynamic weather, which affects the way non-player characters (NPCs) behave.[13][23] Depending on the location, law enforcement may be alerted if V commits a crime.[24] Pedestrians are vulnerable to vehicular collisions and gunfire.[14][25] Radio stations are available to listen to.[26][27] Night City features many non-English-speaking characters, whose languages can be translated with special implants.[28] V also periodically uses a "Braindance"; a device that allows one to undergo other people's experiences.[29][30]
Branching dialogues enable interaction with NPCs and actions in quests,[31] and the player's in-game choices can lead to different endings.[32] Experience points are obtained from main quests and used to upgrade stats; side quests yield "street cred", unlocking skills, vendors, places, and additional quests.[10][13][14][33] Quests are assigned by characters known as Fixers, shady underworld figures who specialize in information brokering and smuggling.[34] Throughout the game, V is aided by various companions.[11] Consumables, such as food, drinks, and drugs, are used for healing and temporary enhancements, and objects can be inspected in V's inventory.[5] Minigames include hacking, boxing, auto racing,[35] martial arts, and shooting ranges.[36]
The primary protagonist of Cyberpunk 2077 is Vincent / Valerie, known as V (Gavin Drea or Cherami Leigh),[48] a freelance mercenary whose background can be influenced by the player's choices.[49] V is accompanied by Johnny Silverhand (Keanu Reeves),[50] a legendary rock star and terrorist who now exists as a digitized engram; Johnny is also playable during some segments of the game. Throughout the main story, V and Johnny come into contact with several major allies and enemies, including Jackie Welles (Jason Hightower), V's best friend and fellow mercenary; T-Bug (Cynthia McWilliams), a netrunner who provides support to V and Jackie; Viktor "Vik" Vector (Michael Gregory), a ripperdoc who maintains a close friendship with V; Misty Olzewski (Erica Lindbeck), Jackie's girlfriend who runs an esoterica; Dexter "Dex" DeShawn (Michael-Leon Wooley), a local fixer in Night City; Evelyn Parker (Kari Wahlgren), a sex worker who partners with Dex and V's crew to organize a heist; Judy Álvarez (Carla Tassara), Evelyn's friend and a braindance editor who helps V in their investigations; Saburo Arasaka (Masane Tsukayama), the founder of the Arasaka Corporation; Yorinobu Arasaka (Hideo Kimura), Saburo's youngest son; Hanako Arasaka (Alpha Takahashi [ja]), Yorinobu's sister and Saburo's only daughter; Goro Takemura (Rome Kanda), Saburo's personal bodyguard; Rogue Amendiares (Jane Perry), the owner of the Afterlife nightclub and one of Johnny's former partners; Panam Palmer (Emily Woo Zeller), a nomad from the Aldecaldos clan; Saul Bright (Diarmaid Murtagh), the leader of the Aldecaldos; Alt Cunningham (Alix Wilton Regan), a netrunner and Johnny's ex-girlfriend who became an artificial intelligence construct; and Adam Smasher (Alec Newman), a ruthless cyborg who works as Arasaka's head of security.[51]
Plot
The game begins with the selection of one of three lifepaths for the player character V: Nomad, Streetkid, or Corpo. All three lifepaths ultimately involve V partnering with street thug Jackie Welles. The two begin working as mercenaries in Night City along with netrunner, T-Bug.
In 2077, local fixer Dexter "Dex" DeShawn hires V and Jackie to steal a biochip known as "the Relic" from Arasaka Corporation. They acquire the Relic, but the plan goes awry when they witness the murder of the megacorp's leader Saburo Arasaka at the hands of his son Yorinobu. Yorinobu covers up the murder as poisoning and triggers a security sweep, in which Arasaka's netrunners kill T-Bug. V and Jackie escape, but the Relic's protective case is damaged and Jackie is fatally wounded in the process, forcing V to insert the biochip into the cyberware in their head.
Furious at the unwanted police attention, Dex shoots V in the head and leaves them for dead in a landfill. Upon awakening, V is haunted by the digital ghost of war veteran turned iconic rock star and terrorist Johnny Silverhand, believed to have died in 2023 during his own thermonuclear attack on Arasaka Tower. V is then rescued by Saburo's bodyguard Goro Takemura on Arasaka's orders, as they are the prime suspect in Saburo's death, but the duo are attacked by Arasaka assassins sent by Yorinobu. They fend off the attackers and reach V's ripperdoc Viktor Vector, who reveals that resurrectionnanotech on the biochip saved V's life, but also started an irreversible process that would overwrite V's consciousness with Johnny's, whose memory engram is stored on the chip. V has only a few weeks before the process completes, and the biochip cannot be removed without instantly killing V, so V must find a way to remove Johnny and survive.
Inferring from the assassins that V is innocent of Saburo's murder, Takemura and V start working together. From here, V is able to follow up on two different leads: tracking down Arasaka's head doctor Anders Hellman, which V accomplishes by working with Panam Palmer, a member of the Aldecaldos nomad clan; and finding and rescuing Evelyn Parker, Dex's client who commissioned the gig.
After finding and capturing Anders, V attempts to contact Evelyn Parker for help, only to learn that she was kidnapped by the Death's Head gang. With the help of Evelyn's friend Judy Álvarez, they are able to save her, but Evelyn is in a near-death state, leaving her unable to help. By viewing Evelyn's memories through a braindance, V is able to get in contact with the Voodoo Boys, a gang of netrunners. Evelyn later commits suicide as a result of psychological trauma stemming from her being raped while kidnapped.
Through the Voodoo Boys, V relives Johnny's memories, learning that in 2013, Johnny's then-girlfriend Alt Cunningham created Soulkiller, an artificial intelligence able to copy netrunners' minds through their neural links, but destroyed the target's brain in the process. Arasaka kidnapped Alt and forced her to create their own version of Soulkiller, which would store the minds of its targets in Arasaka's digital fortress, Mikoshi. With the help of his friend Rogue Amendiares, Johnny led a rescue effort to save Alt, but failed to find her before Arasaka used Soulkiller on her; Johnny's later thermonuclear attack was a cover to free Alt's consciousness from Arasaka's subnet, but Arasaka's head of security Adam Smasher captured him and used Soulkiller on him as well. By 2077, Arasaka was advertising a "Secure Your Soul" program and conducting secret research into writing a digital copy of a mind into a living human brain, from which the Relic arose.
V also gets in contact with Alt's consciousness, which has escaped beyond the Blackwall, a firewall which protects the net from rogue AIs. With Johnny's mediation, V makes a deal with Alt, that if they can give Alt access to Arasaka's subnet and gain physical access to Mikoshi, Alt can use Soulkiller to separate V's and Johnny's consciousness.
Working with Takemura, V helps him capture Yorinobu's sister, Hanako Arasaka, to convince her of Yorinobu's treachery. After defeating Takemura's former student Oda, they are able to get Hanako to a safe house and convince her of V's innocence, but Arasaka soldiers attack, forcing V to flee. Eventually, V must decide whether to mount an attack on Arasaka Tower to gain physical access to Mikoshi and use Soulkiller to remove Johnny from their body, or to make a deal with Hanako to extract the Relic.
If V chooses to attack Arasaka Tower, depending upon player actions throughout the game, V can choose different options to conduct the attack. V can allow Johnny to take over and stage the attack with Rogue, suppress Johnny and mount the attack with their nomad allies from the Aldecaldos clan, mount the attack solo, or simply commit suicide. All options (except for the suicide one) end with V defeating Adam Smasher. If V chooses to make a deal with Hanako instead, they convince the Arasaka board that Yorinobu killed Saburo, and oust Yorinobu as CEO, with V defeating Smasher. Hanako honors her deal with V and, after inserting an engram of Saburo into Yorinobu to avenge Saburo's murder, has Arasaka doctors extract the Relic from V. In all cases, it is revealed that the damage to V's body is irreversible. Depending on player choice, V either requests Arasaka upload them into Mikoshi until a suitable host body is found, remains in their body with an uncertain life expectancy, or allows Johnny to take over permanently (only achievable through attacking Arasaka). If V assaults Arasaka and chooses to remain in their body, they either become a Night City legend, or leave Night City with the Aldecaldos clan hoping to find a way to prolong their lifespan. If V surrenders their body to Johnny, the latter pays his respects to his friends and leaves Night City to start a new life.
Preliminary work on Cyberpunk 2077 began following the release of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition (2012). CD Projekt Red—CD Projekt's internal development studio—approached Mike Pondsmith, the writer of Cyberpunk and founder of R. Talsorian Games, in early 2012, sending him a copy of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (2011). Impressed with the studio's unparalleled knowledge of the Cyberpunk universe at the time, Pondsmith and CD Projekt Red reached an agreement to license Cyberpunk's story from the year 2077 onward to CD Projekt Red, while Pondsmith retained the rights for media in the Cyberpunk universe set up until the year 2077. To ensure Cyberpunk's story remained cohesive during development, Pondsmith served as a consultant on Cyberpunk 2077. Pondsmith's experience at Microsoft developing games such as Crimson Skies (2000) and Blood Wake (2001), and at Monolith Productions developing The Matrix Online (2005), provided valuable wisdom to CD Projekt Red, in comparison to Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski's indifference towards the studio during the development of The Witcher (2007) and The Witcher 2.[52]
The concept of Cyberpunk 2077 was adapted from Pondsmith's Cyberpunk series. Antithetical to the stereotypical cyberpunk genre, the concepts explored in Cyberpunk evoke a sense of rebellion and whimsy while retaining the genre's grim tone. The protagonist of Cyberpunk—in comparison to the typical archetype of a hero attempting to save the world—attempts to save himself, from a downtrodden and lowly perspective.[52] Lead gameplay designer Marcin Janiszewski sought to remind players of its connection to the Cyberpunk universe, writing, "We want to assure fans of the pen-and-paper game that this is still the same Cyberpunk you know". In comparison to CD Projekt Red's development on The Witcher series, the time difference between the events of Cyberpunk and Cyberpunk 2077 allotted the studio more freedom towards adapting the series, although they attempted to stay true to Pondsmith's original works.[53]
Cyberpunk 2077, by extension, presents an alternate history, in which the United States became mired in wars in Central America in the 1980s deeply undermining its power and economy, the Soviet Union failed to dissolve and Japan became a superpower, diffusing its culture as far as California. The events of Cyberpunk 2077 take place in the fictitious Night City, a megalopolis immersed in Japanese culture that lies between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Stereotypical cyberpunk motifs, such as sadism, commercialization, cruelty, and satisfaction, remain as mainstays in the political landscape of Night City.[54] A hedonistic wonderland, Night City is divided into two distinct classes: the downtrodden, who use psychedelic substances and physically augmented sex workers as a form of escapism, while the elite corporate class (known as "corpos") dominate society and are afforded great financial success.[55]
The script was first written in Polish and translated into English, a standard practice for CD Projekt Red's games, according to quest director Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz.[56][57]
Game design
CD Projekt Red used a first-person perspective to immerse the player further in the world and hone in on the megacorporation motif.[58] To seamlessly blend cutscenes with gameplay, CD Projekt Red decided to frame cutscenes in first-person, including the sex scenes, with limited exceptions. Players can, however, drive in third-person, and the player's character is visible in areas such as mirrors and security cameras.[59] The decision by game director Adam Badowski to include nudity was tactfully planned, with Badowski stating, "Nudity is important for us because of one reason. This is cyberpunk, so people augment their body. So the body is no longer [sacred]; it's [profane]", expanding upon transhumanist beliefs.[60]
The quest team took several changes in comparison to the quest system in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015). Game logic was implemented to allow for players to undertake quests in seemingly random orders while remaining coherent, while doubling down on The Witcher 3' philosophy of a "quest twist".[61] To reuse the stories written during the game's development, unused parts from the main story were turned into side quests.[62]
Technology
Cyberpunk 2077 was developed using REDengine 4, the fourth iteration of CD Projekt Red's internal game engine.[63] REDengine 3, REDengine 4's predecessor, implemented improvements to terrain and vegetation rendering. To achieve this, regions are streamed from a clippedmipmap (through a method known as clipmapping) in memory. Six clipmaps are created in total; the elevation, control map, and colour clipmaps are streamed, while the vertical error, normal, and terrain shadow clipmaps are generated at runtime. In addition, a technique known as tessellation is used, where polygons are divided. In particular, polygon triangulation is used, where data is tessellated into triangles. The error maps are downsampled prior to hardware tessellation. This avoids costly computation, as large areas with high levels of tessellation aren't rendered. Furthermore, REDengine3 employs a radical approach to texturing; textures are painted using two textures: a background texture and an overlay texture. For slopes, the slope angle is computed and compared against a threshold value. Creating a thick cover on slopes was made possible through boosting the overlay texture when the vertex normal looked up; however, this presented complications in ground features, such as cobblestones, where improper distribution was applied. To address this, damping was added, along with blend sharpening. These measures created an ultimately low memory footprint.[64] Other advancements made by REDengine 3 include refined animations, volumetric effects allowing for advanced rendering of particle effects, such as clouds, dynamic physics, and an advanced dialogue mimic system. These improvements allowed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to have a more immersive open-world.[65]
Although Cyberpunk 2077 was initially developed using REDengine 3 as far back as 2013,[66] CD Projekt Red developed REDengine 4 after facing difficulty developing the game, which used a first-person perspective, a departure from the third-person perspective CD Projekt had developed in for earlier iterations of REDengine. REDengine 4 was developed using a US$7 million grant from the Polish government.[65] Nearly every aspect of REDengine was changed as a result, including the particle effects editor.[67] In a report from CD Projekt Red, it was revealed that the company continued to work on REDengine throughout Cyberpunk 2077's development cycle, as late as 2017.[68]Cyberpunk 2077 is the final game to use REDengine, as future games from CD Projekt Red will instead be developed using Unreal Engine 5.[63]
REDengine 4 implemented various lighting adjustments to create a more realistic world, including hardware-acceleratedreal-time ray tracing through DirectX, global illumination, diffuse illumination, and ambient occlusion. These features are not present on the console versions of the game. Other features include physically based rendering—an improvement over REDengine 3, screen space reflections, and pin sharp reflections, although the player's character is omitted from the bounding volume hierarchy structure generated ray-traced reflections. The player's character does appear, however, in render to texture objects, such as mirrors. Improvements to shadows include cascaded shadow maps, screen space shadows, and ray-traced shadows with contact hardening, while improvements to character rendering include subsurface scattering and realistic skin shading. These features introduced computational complexity, testing older consoles, such as the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.[69]Cyberpunk 2077 uses vertical asset streaming, or culling, a rendering technique that omits objects below and above the player's field of view. This technique saves memory.[70]
During the development of Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red partnered with several companies. These companies include Vancouver-based studio Digital Scapes to create additional tools,[71] multinational technology company Nvidia to implement real-time ray tracing,[72] and developer QLOC for quality assurance.[73] In addition, artificial intelligence company Jali Research helped CD Projekt Red implement lip syncing for all ten localizations through procedural generation.[74]
Art
The work of Dieter Rams (left) and Syd Mead (right) served as inspiration for Night City.
When designing Night City, the art design team at CD Projekt Red took multiple sources of inspiration. German industrial designer Dieter Rams and American neo-futurist concept artist Syd Mead inspired the team, who used Rams' elegance to juxtapose the low-class neighborhoods in Night City and Mead's vibrant colours and materialism to create the demeanor of Night City, in what the team called "kitsch". Building these environments took the team eight years.[75] To create a cyberpunk look for Night City, the team incorporated retro and futuristic elements. To accomplish this, the team looked at dilapidated or old-fashioned buildings—aspects of a familiar reality—with futurism. "For example, you could have a run down building with an old wooden door, but an LED light might be attached to that door, which could be a part of a high-tech security system," Hiroshi Sakakibara, Environment City Coordinator at CD Projekt Red, said during a Cyberpunk 2077 livestream at Tokyo Game Show 2020. A key source of inspiration for the team was Blade Runner (1982), which Sakakibara referred to as the "Bible of all cyberpunk".[76] Other sources of inspiration for the team include the manga and anime series Ghost in the Shell, and other video games such as System Shock (1994) and the first part of Deus Ex (2000).[77] To design the buildings in Night City, the team consulted with urban planners and drew upon the themes of Brutalist architecture.[78][76] The game's yellow-themed design is an attempt to distinguish Cyberpunk from existing icons in its genre.[79] The designs of Marcello Gandini helped shape the appearance of many of the cars in the game.[80] A motorbike akin to the one in the Akira manga and anime film appears in the game, as well as a car inspired by Mad Max: Fury Road (2015).[81][82]
To develop the world building in Night City, the team used four distinct visual styles—austere Entropism, colourful Kitsch, imposing Neomilitarism, and opulent Neokitsch—to explain what happened to the world prior to the events of the game. Bulky cars and unappealing buildings represent Entropism, an architectural style that came about through necessity. In Entropism, practicality is valued more than aesthetics. As the economy recovered, the vibrant style of Kitsch gained traction. The style of Kitsch was countered with Neomilitarism, an ascetic movement where the rise of corporations undid many of the stylistic decisions made in Entropism. Finally, Neokitsch incorporated the classist systems in Neomilitarism with the vibrance of Kitsch. In Neokitsch, the rich use scarce materials, such as wood and marble, to construct their buildings, and wear clothes from animals.[83] Night City features six districts, each with a unique gusto. Pacifica, for instance, was a prosperous vacation destination until an economic crisis hit, leaving the Haitian community to form a civilization around the buildings.[43]
The team used the digital compositing software Nuke to design Night City. A challenge for the team was creating a global illumination system that would cast a variety of light sources on narrow streets. Nuke was used to analytically reference the lighting in REDengine with Nuke. In contrast to most other video games, which use tone-mapping, Cyberpunk 2077 uses a classic film LUT. In addition, Nuke was used to design the game's user interface and splash screen.[84]
Audio
V is voiced by Gavin Drea and Cherami Leigh for the male and female versions of V, respectively.[48] CD Projekt Red sought a suitable voice actor for the role of Johnny Silverhand. Keanu Reeves was approached in July 2018 for the role, and noted for his work as Neo in The Matrix franchise. Reeves' performance was recorded using motion capture technology, a process he had previously used for his performance as Neo in The Matrix (1999). Although a newcomer to the video game format, Reeves enjoyed the script.[85] Silverhand is featured prominently in the game, with CD Projekt co-founder Marcin Iwiński recalling in an interview that Silverhand's dialogue count is second only to V.[50] The localization of Cyberpunk 2077 involved nearly half of the 5,381 people working on the game, including 1,966 actors dedicated solely to voicing the characters.[86]
Multiple licensed artists contributed to Cyberpunk 2077' soundtrack. Hip hop duo Run the Jewels, composed of rappers El-P and Killer Mike, wrote "No Save Point" for the game's soundtrack—a track that vividly critiques the socioeconomic state of Night City.[87] The song is featured in the game and performed by El-P and Killer Mike as "Yankee and the Brave",[88][89] a reference to the duo's fourth studio album, RTJ4 (2020).[90] Other contributors include Canadian musician Grimes (as Lizzy Wizzy), Swedish band Refused (as Samurai), American rapper ASAP Rocky, English musician Gazelle Twin (as Trash Generation), South African rapper Yugen Blakrok, and American musician Ilan Rubin, among others.[91][27]
"I Really Want to Stay at Your House" is a song by British singer Rosa Walton written for the game.[a] Featured in the fictional radio station 98.7 Body Heat Radio, the song was included by Lakeshore Records on the soundtrack album Cyberpunk 2077: Radio, Vol. 2 (Original Soundtrack), which was released on 18 December 2020.[92][93] The song would later on go viral in 2022 after being utilised heavily in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners,[94][95] and topped Billboard's Top TV Songs in the United States.[96]
At E3 2019, an initial release date of 16 April 2020 was announced.[100] This was delayed to 17 September,[103] then 19 November,[104] and finally 10 December.[105] The developers received death threats over the last delay.[106] The final delay was decided suddenly, with discussions commencing a day before the initial announcement. Due to Polish law, CD Projekt was not allowed to inform every member of the development team due to its large size; around ninety percent were not informed until the last minute.[107] Rockfish Game's Everspace 2's early access release and an expansion to Grinding Gear Games's Path of Exile, scheduled to be released in December 2020, were delayed until the following month in order to avoid competing with Cyberpunk 2077's release.[108][109]
Funko Pops were obtainable starting 16 April 2020.[110] CD Projekt Red held a cosplay competition in June 2019.[111]McFarlane Toys signed a three-year agreement to manufacture action figures.[112] The Cyberpunk2077-themed Xbox One X, which includes a digital copy and downloadable content,[113] became the final limited edition of that console.[114] Designed with the same aesthetic were video cards,[115]gaming chairs,[116]energy drinks,[117]sneakers,[118]smartphones exclusive to China,[119] and peripherals.[120][121] From May 2020, advertising company Agora Group had newspapers, online services, and radio channels doing promotion in Poland. Their subsidiaries carried out publicity outdoors and in movie theatres, using established brands to disseminate information about the game.[122]
With E3 2020 cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, CD Projekt's online event Night City Wire showed additional trailers, more gameplay,[123][124][125] and making-of footage.[126] Next-generation ports for Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 were initially scheduled for release in 2021,[127] but were delayed in October 2021,[128] before eventually releasing on 15 February 2022.[129][130][131] Owners of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions were able to freely download the game on their respective next-generation models.[132][133] The delayed standalone multiplayer was announced to launch after 2021.[134][135] In December 2024, CD Projekt announced that the base game, along with the Phantom Liberty expansion, will be released for macOS in 2025.[136]
The versions of Cyberpunk 2077 released in Japan were subject to a reduction in the amount of nudity and gore portrayed in order to meet rating agency requirements and censorship laws.[141][142] Just one day after its release, the game was accused by some Chinese netizens of being "insulting" for not recognizing Taiwan as part of the country and calling for an immediate ban. However, this call was met with harsh criticism. The reason was that the Cyberpunk Wiki, an online encyclopedia about the game, described Taiwan as "not really a country and not actually part of China".[143] A datamine of the game's source code by hackers in February 2021 revealed that content flagged for censorship in China was tagged under "Winnie the Pooh",[144][145] a reference to an internet meme in which Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping was compared to the titular character.[146][147]
CD Projekt has publicly supported Ukraine following its conflict with Russia in February 2022 by suspending all sales of Cyberpunk 2077 in Russian and Belarusian territories,[148][149] and donating one million Polish złoty to a humanitarian charity operating in Ukraine.[150]
Retail editions
A "Collector's Edition" consisting of a custom box, steelbook case, figurine depicting a male V, hardcover artbook, metal pin set and keychain, A Visitor's Guide to Night City, embroidered patches, world compendium, Night City postcards and map, and stickers was released along with the game. The standard edition also contains the compendium, postcards, map, and stickers.[151] Digital items that come with every copy are the soundtrack, art booklet, Cyberpunk 2020sourcebook, wallpapers, and Cyberpunk2077: Your Voice comic.[152] Purchases through CD Projekt's subsidiary GOG.com include the digital comic Cyberpunk2077: Big City Dreams.[153]
A physical release of the game for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, which includes Phantom Liberty, was announced on 21 November 2023.[154] Players on PC could purchase this version digitally, and PlayStation 5 releases come with a digital code instead of a disc.[155] This release, titled the "Ultimate Edition", was released on 5 December 2023.[156]
Prior to the announcement of the game's only planned expansion, Phantom Liberty, CD Projekt Red had released 18 different DLCs for the game as of February 2021.[157] One of the DLCs released included content from the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime.[158][159] The expansion, which stars Idris Elba, was released in September 2023.[160]
Update 2.0, released just days before the Phantom Liberty expansion, brought a series of major changes that overhauled the core elements of the RPG,[161] and was met with positive reviews.[162][163] Nearly three years after the game's release, many minor bugs have been fixed.[164] "Update 2.0 has given Cyberpunk 2077 a pulse that didn’t exist before," Polygon reported.[165] The patch also added a Ukrainian language option, but the translation contained anti-Russian statements specifically referring to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.[166] CD Projekt apologized, stating that it was unaware these comments had been included.[167] The translations were provided by an external agency hired for localization,[168] and the company said they would be replaced in the next update.[169]
Along with the release of the "Ultimate Edition" on 5 December 2023, CD Projekt released Update 2.1, which they characterized as "the last major update",[170] which introduces a functioning Metro system, additional scenes with V's romantic interest, and other quality improvements.[171] As of February 2024, only 17 developers remained working on Cyberpunk 2077. Three months later, none were left.[172] However, at the end of 2024, CD Projekt unexpectedly released update 2.2, which included a feature where Johnny Silverhand would sit in the passenger seat while V was driving, occasionally commenting or reacting to the surrounding events.[173]
Reception
Pre-release
The game was highly anticipated before its release.[b] It won over one hundred awards at E3 2018,[c] including Best Game, Best Xbox One Game, Best PC Game, Best RPG, and People's Choice at IGN,[182] Best Role-Playing Game and Game of the Show at Game Informer,[183] Best of E3 at PC Gamer,[184] and Game of the Show at GamesRadar+.[185] The second trailer was considered one of the best at the expo,[186][187][188][189] although writer William Gibson, credited with pioneering the cyberpunk subgenre, described it as "GTA skinned-over with a generic 80s retro-future".[190] Gibson later responded more positively to the first gameplay demo.[191] The first-person perspective, in contrast with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's third-person, was subject to criticism.[192][193]Cyberpunk2077 was the most widely discussed game of E3 2019,[194][195] where it was presented awards for Best of E3 at GamesRadar+, PC Gamer, Rock Paper Shotgun, and Ars Technica,[196][197][198][199] and Best Game, People's Choice, Best PS4 Game, Best Xbox One Game, Best PC Game, and Best RPG at IGN.[200] The third trailer was lauded with emphasis on Reeves' reveal.[201][202]
Liana Ruppert, a journalist for Game Informer who has photosensitive epilepsy, experienced a grand mal seizure while reviewing the game days before its release. The seizure was triggered by the game's "braindance" sequence, which contains red and white flashing lights that reportedly resemble the patterns produced by medical devices used to intentionally trigger seizures.[203][204] At this point, Cyberpunk 2077 includes only a generic warning about "flashing lights and images" in its EULA, with no specific warnings about the sequence or instructions on how to skip it.[205] In response, CD Projekt Red made a public statement and reached out to Ruppert.[206][207] The company then released a patch to add a warning, and issued a later patch on 11 December to reduce the risk of inducing epileptic symptoms.[208] In an email to The Washington Post, Stephanie Bayer, the North American communications director for CD Projekt Red, stated that the developers had incorporated Ruppert's suggestions and "adjusted the entire sequence" so it would no longer be a seizure trigger.[209]
Prior to the release of the game, CD Projekt Red provided review copies of Cyberpunk to several major outlets. CD Projekt Red issued strict review embargo terms on these review copies, requiring reviewers to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDA) and only allowing for footage provided by the company to be shown in reviews; according to Wired (which did not receive a reviewer copy), violating the NDA could cost around $27,000 per violation.[210] Concern also arose over the fact review copies were issued for the PC version of the game, ensuring that all pre-release reviews related to the PC version of the game, excluding consoles. As a result, this eroded trust from some consumers.[211]
The PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series releases of Cyberpunk 2077 received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game received "mixed or average" reviews.[212]
Critics praised the quality of the story as well as the depth and expansiveness of side quests,[218] immersive atmosphere of the world,[217] visual quality,[225] and freshness of the cyberpunk setting.[226] The game's systems such as crafting, driving mechanics, and combat received a mixed response.[216] Some critics, while acknowledging the game's many strengths, nonetheless criticised its shallow portrayal of the cyberpunk genre, and also described its portrayal of related themes such as anti-capitalism and anarchism as ironic.[227][228] Others took issue with the misogynistic,[229][230]xenophobic,[215] and transphobic portrayals, arguing that transgender characters were fetishized by in-game material but were not given any meaningful role in the narrative.[216][231][232]
On launch day, the game exceeded 1 million concurrent viewers on Twitch.[233]
Along with several post-release patches, following the release of the anime series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners on Netflix in September 2022, the game's player count on PC boosted to levels last seen with the game's initial release.[234] The million-plus daily player count continued for at least four weeks following the release of Edgerunners.[235]
Technical issues
The release of Cyberpunk 2077 was a high-profile event and was considered a disastrous launch,[d] as a result of the game suffering from numerous bugs and performance issues, particularly on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions,[e]Vox reports that there was even a bug causing characters' penises and breasts to protrude from their clothing.[246]The Guardian called the release "a shambles",[247] while The New York Times said it was among the most conspicuous disasters in the industry's history, with CD Projekt Red prominently failing to meet expectations for what was anticipated to be the biggest game release of the year.[236] Other gaming industry commentators have described the post-launch reception of Cyberpunk 2077 as a fall from grace for CD Projekt Red, who had previously enjoyed a fiercely pro-consumer reputation.[248][249]
Some of the initial reviews that had been based only on the PC version of the game were later updated to add a caveat about the notable difference in performance between this version and its console releases.[216][218] Because of the game's performance on consoles, CD Projekt issued an apology, particularly for their pre-release secrecy regarding these versions, concluding that unsatisfied consumers could opt for refunds.[250][251] This was initially followed by multiple reports of players unable to get said refund. CD Projekt Red later stated that they had no specific deals in place with either Microsoft or Sony to facilitate such an action; refunds are dealt with according to standard refund policies.[252] On 17 December 2020, Sony announced that it would offer refunds to customers who had purchased Cyberpunk 2077 through the PlayStation Store and removed it from the store "until further notice";[253] once returned to the store in June 2021, the PlayStation Store warned users that "Users continue to experience performance issues with this game. Purchase for use on PS4 systems is not recommended".[254] The Xbox One version of the game remained available for purchase from the online Microsoft store, albeit with a warning about the game's performance issues. Players who bought the game through the Microsoft store were also offered refunds.[255][256] In the US, GameStop accepted returns of boxed versions of the game even if the box was opened, an exception to the store's usual refund policy.[257] During a conference call with investors, top executives at CD Projekt Red acknowledged having taken the "wrong approach" to developing the Xbox One and PS4 versions.[258]
Although the game's reviews were largely positive, its aggregate score was thought to be disappointing by analysts. CD Projekt SA stock fell by up to 9.4% after the publication of Metacritic's reviews.[259] The reviews aggregation OpenCritic criticised CD Projekt Red for deliberately attempting to misrepresent the game, and not delivering review copies for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, knowing it would receive negative reviews.[260] A class-action lawsuit representing those making investments in CD Projekt during 2020 was filed on 24 December 2020 in California, asserting that the company made fraudulent claims to the state of Cyberpunk 2077 as to mislead those investors;[261] a second similar class-action suit had also been filed by January 2021.[262] By May 2021, four separate lawsuits against CD Projekt had been filed over Cyberpunk 2077, and had been subsequently merged into one common action.[263] CD Projekt proposed a settlement with the investors in December 2021, providing US$1.85 million to the group as part of the terms,[264] which was approved by a judge in January 2023.[265] Poland's Office of Competition and Consumer Protection began an investigation of the game in January 2021, asking CD Projekt for an "explanation regarding problems with the game and actions taken by them".[266] Having previously asked its employees to work 6-day weeks for several final months of the development of the game, the company ditched plans to tie developers' bonuses to review scores, choosing instead to pay out the full bonus regardless.[267]
Jason Schreier of Bloomberg News said that, based on discussions with CD Projekt developers, a major reason for the poor performance of Cyberpunk 2077 on release was underestimating the effort that would be needed. While more than twice as many developers were brought on board to help with the game compared to The Witcher 3, CD Projekt had only expected the same amount of time to complete the game, so that the bulk of development towards the game only began in late 2016. The expanded scope of Cyberpunk 2077 including the game's new engine had created difficulties, and while there were more developers, there was less organization of their various functions that further hampered the development, according to Schreier's report. Many developers urged management to hold off on the game's release.[268] Co-CEO Marcin Iwiński issued an open message to players on 13 January 2021, apologizing for the state of the game and the company's plans to correct it. Iwiński stated that the company "underestimated the risk" in bringing a game optimized to run on personal computers over to consoles, particularly the older Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles.[269] He specifically faulted the in-game streaming engine that was used to load in assets from storage on the fly as the player moved through the game, which was scaled back to work on the older consoles.[270] While they had tested these versions as they approached release, they had not seen the same issues that players had reported in the released version. He affirmed that the developers were not responsible for the release state of the game, but instead this was a choice made by himself and the other management of the company.[269] Besides working to issue refunds and bring the game to a state to return it to the PlayStation Store, Iwiński outlined a year-long path that will involve multiple patches to bring the older consoles' versions to better performance and then looking to optimizing the game for newer consoles, prior to any further additional content development.[269]
Despite the rampant technical issues that were prevalent during its initial release that affected the game's sales, Cyberpunk 2077 saw an increase in the number of units sold during the year 2022 of up to 18%, with 94% of the sales being digital.[271][272] This increase was partially attributed to the release of the Netflixanime series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, which garnered positive reviews from both critics and audience,[273][274] and the concurrent release of a game update which added material from the series in the form of multiple items. CD Projekt Red recognized the success of Edgerunners having driven sales of Cyberpunk 2077 by stating that "a significant increase in the amount of the Group's Sales in the third quarter of 2022 in relation to the reference period was mainly due to a good reception of the Cyberpunk Edgerunner update 1.6 which preceded the release on Netflix of the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime series".[275] The series would again be referenced in the Cyberpunk 2.0 update that came alongside the Phantom Liberty downloadable content.[276]
Financials
Cyberpunk 2077 received eight million pre-orders on all platforms, of which 74% were digital,[277] and it received more pre-orders than The Witcher3: Wild Hunt;[278] one third of PC sales were through GOG.com.[279] In June 2019, the game's pre-orders quickly climbed to the top of Steam's best-seller list in China.[280] A year later, it had more pre-orders in this country than anywhere else in the world,[281] despite Cyberpunk 2077 not being approved for sale in China at the time.[282][283] CD Projekt Red has stated that digital preorders for the title alone recouped the game's production cost as well as the game's 2020 marketing cost.[284] According to a CD Projekt investors call, sales saw a drastic decline four days after release owing to the technical issues present.[285] After the launch, analyst estimations for sales over 12 months fell from 30 million to 25.6 million.[286][287]
Within hours of its midnight GMT launch on 10 December, the game set a record with over one million concurrent single players on Steam and one million live viewers on Twitch,[288] doubling the previous record set by Fallout 4 in 2015.[289][290] In Japan, the PlayStation 4 version of Cyberpunk 2077 sold an estimated 104,687 physical units during its debut week, making it the second best-selling retail game of the week in the country.[291][292] The game passed 13 million units sold in December 2020.[293][294] It had the biggest digital game launch of all time, selling 10.2 million digital units,[295] and grossed $609 million in digital sales by 31 December 2020.[296] By September 2022, the game had sold over 20 million units.[297][298] As of October 2023, it has sold over 25 million units.[299][237][300] CD Projekt announced the game had sold 30 million copies by November 2024,[301][302] making it one of the best-selling games of all time.
In October 2023, CD Projekt Red revealed that they have spent $125 million on Cyberpunk 2077 since launch, accounting for updates and bug fixes.[303][304] The base game cost $174 million to develop and $142 million to market, the development and marketing of Phantom Liberty cost roughly $85 million alone.[305][306] The game's total production cost is said to have been between $436 million,[307] and $441 million,[308][309] making it one of the most expensive video games to develop.
Accolades
Seven years before its official release, Cyberpunk 2077's 2013 teaser received a Golden Trailer Awards nomination in the Best Video Game Trailer category and earned a second nomination in the same category in 2021. In the years leading up to its release, Cyberpunk 2077 was among the most highly anticipated games,[b] evidenced by winning two consecutive Golden Joystick Awards for Most Wanted Game in 2018 and 2019. At the 2018 Electronic Entertainment Expo, the game garnered over 100 awards,[c] including accolades for Best Game, Best Xbox One Game, Best PC Game, Best RPG, and the People's Choice award. A month after E3, Cyberpunk 2077 received two Game Critics Awards: Special Commendation for Graphics and Innovation. In early 2020, the character Dexter DeShawn won the Visual Effects Society Awards for Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial. Mid-year, the game earned two Webby Awards for Best Use of Animation or Motion Graphics and People's Voice. Continuing its streak, in August 2020 at Gamescom, the game won all five of its nominations, including Best PC Game and Best of Gamescom.
After an extended period of updates, bug fixes, and the release of the Phantom Liberty expansion, CD Projekt successfully revitalized the Cyberpunk 2077 franchise,[237][310][311] earning the game its first The Game Awards win in the Best Ongoing Game category, three years after its release.[312] In 2024, Cyberpunk 2077 continued its success by receiving its first British Academy Games Awards in the Evolving Game category. Additionally, the game also won two Steam Awards in the Outstanding Story-Rich Game and Labor of Love categories in 2022 and 2023.
A card game created alongside publisher CMON Limited, Cyberpunk2077– Afterlife: The Card Game, was slated for 2020 but has yet to be released; no updating announcements have been made and the card game's future remains uncertain.[349]
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, an animespin-off collaboration co-produced by CD Projekt Red and Trigger, premiered on 13 September 2022 on Netflix.[350] A second series adaptation was announced during Netflix's Geeked Week event.[351] In early 2025, an hour-long fan film titled Black Dog was released, a project that later received congratulations from Paweł Sasko, the original game director.[352]
Sequel
A sequel, internally codenamed Project Orion, was announced in October 2022.[353] It is being developed by CD Projekt North America, which has studios in both Vancouver and Boston.[354] By February 2024, the game was in early development,[355] with key members of the development team being moved to Boston.[356] The game is being directed by Gabe Amatangelo, who previously directed the Phantom Liberty expansion.[357] Project is being developed using Unreal Engine 5,[358] with CD Projekt revealing on its official website that the sequel will feature "high-quality, photorealistic" graphics.[359]
Notes
^Walton is credited alongside Hallie Coggins, her fictional in-universe persona created for Cyberpunk 2077.
^ abSources mention that Cyberpunk 2077 was one of the most highly anticipated games in the years leading up to its release:[174][175][176][177][178]
^Schilling, Chris (September 2020). "Inside Cyberpunk 2077, and the most elaborately detailed future city we've ever seen in a videogame". Edge. No. 348. p. 65. ISSN1350-1593.
^Taylor-Kent, Oscar (October 2020). "Cyberpunk 2077's art team talk to Oscar Taylor-Kent about creating the hot looks, fast rides, big guns, and slick cyberware that defines Night City". PlayStation Official Magazine – UK. No. 179. pp. 50–58. ISSN1752-2102.
^Sheehan, Jason (22 December 2020). "In 'Cyberpunk 2077,' The Only Truly Punk Move Is Not To Play". NPR. Archived from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020. It's like an Eat The Rich t-shirt with the Hot Topic price tag still on it; like Starbucks selling lattes in decorative All War Is Class War mugs.
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