Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077
Developer(s)	CD Projekt Red
Publisher(s)	CD Projekt
Director(s)	Adam Badowski Konrad Tomaszkiewicz Gabriel Amatangelo
Producer(s)	Konrad Tomaszkiewicz Jędrzej Mróz Przemysław Wójcik Michał Stec
Designer(s)	Grzegorz Mocarski Mateusz Kanik Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz Paweł Sasko
Programmer(s)	Piotr Tomsiński Kacper Kościeński
Writer(s)	Marcin Blacha Tomasz Marchewka
Composer(s)	P. T. Adamczyk Marcin Przybyłowicz Paul Leonard-Morgan
Series	Cyberpunk
Engine	REDengine 4
Platform(s)	Windows PlayStation 4 Xbox One Stadia PlayStation 5 Xbox Series X/S
Release	Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Stadia 10 December 2020 PS5, Xbox Series X/S 15 February 2022
Genre(s)	Action role-playing, First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player

Cyberpunk 2077 is a 2020 action role-playing video game developed by CD Projekt Red and published by CD Projekt, based on video game designer Mike Pondsmith's tabletop game series. Set in a dystopian cyberpunk universe, the player assumes the role of "V" (played by Gavin Drea/Cherami Leigh), a mercenary in the fictional California city known as "Night City", where they deal with the fallout from a heist gone wrong that results in an experimental cybernetic "bio-chip" containing an engram of the legendary rock star and terrorist Johnny Silverhand (played by Keanu Reeves) threatening to slowly overwrite V's mind; as the story progresses V and Johnny must work together to find a way to be separated and save V's life.

The game's development began following the release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine (2016). The game was developed by a team of around 500 people using the REDengine 4 game engine. CD Projekt launched a new division in Wrocław, Poland, and partnered with Digital Scapes, Nvidia, QLOC, and Jali Research to aid the production. Cyberpunk creator Mike Pondsmith was a consultant, and actor Keanu Reeves had a starring role. The original score was led by Marcin Przybyłowicz, and featured the contributions of several licensed artists. After years of anticipation, CD Projekt released Cyberpunk 2077 for PlayStation 4, Stadia, Windows, and Xbox One on 10 December 2020, followed by PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on 15 February 2022.

Cyberpunk 2077 received praise from critics for its narrative, setting, and graphics. However, some of its gameplay elements received mixed responses while its themes and representation of transgender characters received some criticism. It was also widely criticized for bugs, particularly in the console versions which suffered from performance problems. Sony removed it from the PlayStation Store from December 2020 to June 2021 while CD Projekt rectified some of the problems. 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. By October 2023, the game had sold over 25 million units. An expansion, Phantom Liberty, released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on 26 September 2023, which sold 5 million units in 2023.^[1] Its total cost to develop and market (including updates and DLC) is reportedly over $436 million, making it one of the most expensive video games to develop. A sequel, codenamed "Project Orion", was announced in October 2022.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot of the player-character completing a mission

Cyberpunk 2077 is an action role-playing game^[2] played from a first-person perspective as V,^[3] a mercenary whose voice,^[4] face, hairstyle, body type and modifications, background, and clothing are customisable. Stat categories—Body, Intelligence, Reflexes, Technical, and Cool—influence player's gameplay style. The three primary play styles are Netrunner (hacking), Techie (machinery), and Solo (combat). V must consult a "ripperdoc" to upgrade and purchase cyberware implants.^[5] The rarity of any given equipment is shown by a coloured tier system.^[6] V can take cover, aim, run, jump, double jump, and slide.^[7][8] Melee strikes can be dealt with close-combat weapons.^[9][10] There are three types of ranged weapons, all of which can be customised and modified—Power (standard), Tech (which penetrates walls and enemies), and Smart (with homing bullets).^[11][12] Ranged weapons are equipped to ricochet bullets in a target's direction and slow them down in bullet time. Four types of damage can be inflicted and resisted—Physical, Thermal, Electric, and Chemical.^[13][14][15] Weapon use increases accuracy and reloading speed, which are manifested in character animations.^[16] The game can be completed without killing anyone,^[17] with non-lethal options for weapons and cyberware.^[18]

The open world metropolis of Night City consists of six regions; the corporate City Centre, immigrant-inhabited Watson, luxurious Westbrook, suburban Heywood, gang-infested Pacifica, and industrial Santo Domingo. Its surrounding area, the Badlands, can also be explored. V navigates these locations on foot and in vehicles, which are subject to either a third- or first-person view.^[5] Pedestrians are vulnerable to vehicular collisions.^[12] Depending on the location, law enforcement may be alerted if V commits a crime.^[19][20] Radio stations are available to listen to.^[21] The full day-night cycle and dynamic weather affect the way non-player characters (NPCs) behave.^[11][22] V owns an apartment and a garage.^[9][23] Night City features non-English-speaking characters, whose languages can be translated with special implants.^[24] "Braindance" is a device that allows V to undergo other people's experiences.^[25][26] Branching dialogues enable interaction with NPCs and actions in quests.^[27] Experience points are obtained from main quests and fuel the stats; side quests yield "street cred", unlocking skills, vendors, places, and additional quests.^{[6][11][12][28]} Quests are acquired from characters known as Fixers.^[12] Throughout the game, V is aided by various companions.^[9] Consumables, like soft drinks, are used for healing, and objects can be inspected in V's inventory.^[8] Minigames include hacking, boxing, auto racing,^[29] martial arts, and shooting ranges.^[30] The player's in-game choices can lead to different endings.^[26]

Synopsis

Setting

See also: Cyberpunk (role-playing game) § Setting|Cyberpunk (role-playing game)#Setting|Cyberpunk (role-playing game) § Setting

Night City is an American megacity in the Free State of North California, controlled by corporations and unassailed by the laws of both country and state. It sees conflict from rampant gang wars and its ruling entities contending for dominance. The city relies on robotics for everyday aspects like waste collection, maintenance, and public transportation.^[31][32] Its visual identity is derived from the four eras it underwent—austere Entropism, colourful Kitsch, imposing Neo-Militarism, and opulent Neo-Kitsch.^[33] Homelessness abounds but does not preclude cybernetic modification for the poor, giving rise to cosmetic addiction, and consequent violence. Those whose addictions and heavy cyberization have rendered them mentally unstable, often referred to as cyberpsychos, are dealt with by the armed force known as MaxTac.^[34][35] Trauma Team can be employed for rapid medical services.^[36] Because of the constant threat of physical harm, all citizens are allowed to carry firearms in public openly.^[37]

Plot

The game begins with the selection of one of three lifepaths for the player character V (Gavin Drea or Cherami Leigh): Nomad, Streetkid, or Corpo. All three lifepaths involve V starting a new life in Night City with local thug Jackie Welles (Jason Hightower) and working together as mercenaries with a netrunner, T-Bug (Cynthia Kaye McWilliams).

In 2077, local fixer Dexter "Dex" DeShawn (Michael-Leon Wooley) 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 (Masane Tsukayama) at the hands of his treacherous son Yorinobu (Hideo Kimura). 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 Jackie is fatally wounded in the process, and the Relic's protective case is damaged, 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 (Keanu Reeves), believed to have died in 2023 during his own thermonuclear attack on Arasaka Tower. V learns from their ripperdoc Viktor Vector (Michael Gregory) that Dex's bullet triggered resurrection nanotech on the biochip, repairing the damage to V's brain but starting an irreversible process to overwrite their memories with those of Johnny, whose memory engram is stored on the chip, leaving V only a few weeks before the process completes. The biochip cannot be removed without instantly killing V, so V must find a way to remove Johnny and survive.

Through reliving Johnny's memories, V learns that in 2013, Johnny's then-girlfriend Alt Cunningham (Alix Wilton Regan) had created Soulkiller, an artificial intelligence able to copy netrunners' minds through their neural links. However, the process destroyed the target's brain. 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. 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 (Alec Newman) 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. 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 Arasaka to extract the Relic.

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 his former crew, suppress Johnny and mount the attack with Nomad allies, mount the attack solo, or simply commit suicide. Regardless, after beating Adam and either successfully using Soulkiller or after having Arasaka perform surgery on them, 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. If the latter is taken, Johnny pays his respects to his friends and leaves Night City to start a new life.

Development

Mike Pondsmith was consulted by CD Projekt Red on the development of Cyberpunk 2077's story.

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.^[38]

Concept

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.^[38] 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.^[39]

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.^[40] 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.^[41]

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.^[42]

Technical and gameplay

Cyberpunk 2077 was developed using REDengine 4, the fourth iteration of CD Projekt Red's internal game engine.^[43] REDengine 3, REDengine 4's predecessor, implemented improvements to terrain and vegetation rendering. To achieve this, regions are streamed from a clipped mipmap (through a method known as clipmapping) in memory. Six clipmaps are created in total; the elevation, control map, and color 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.^[44] 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 to have a more immersive open-world.^[45]

Although Cyberpunk 2077 was initially developed using REDengine 3 as far back as 2013,^[46] 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.^[45] Nearly every aspect of REDengine was changed as a result, including the particle effects editor.^[47] CD Projekt Red continued to work on REDengine throughout Cyberpunk 2077's development cycle, and as late as 2017.^[48] Cyberpunk 2077 is the final game to use REDengine, as future games from CD Projekt Red will instead be developed using Unreal Engine 5.^[43]

REDengine 4 implemented various lighting adjustments to create a more realistic world, including hardware-accelerated 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.^[49] 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.^[50]

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,^[51] multinational technology company Nvidia to implement real-time ray tracing,^[52] developer QLOC for quality assurance.^[53] In addition, artificial intelligence company Jali Research helped CD Projekt Red implement lip syncing for all ten localizations through procedural generation.^[54]

CD Projekt Red used a first-person perspective to immerse the player further in the world and hone in on the megacorporation motif.^[55] 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.^[56] 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 sacrum [sacred]; it’s profanum [profane]", expanding upon transhumanist beliefs.^[57]

The quest team took several changes in comparison to the quest system in The Witcher 3 (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".^[58] To reuse the stories written during the game's development, unused parts from the main story were turned into side quests.^[59]

Art design

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 colors and materialism to create the demeanor of Night City, in what the team called "kitsch". Building these environments took the team eight years.^[60] 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".^[61] 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).^[62] To design the buildings in Night City, the team consulted with urban planners and drew upon the themes of Brutalist architecture.^[63][61] The game's yellow-themed design serves as the antithesis to typical neon art.^[64] The designs of Marcello Gandini helped shape the appearance of many of the cars in the game.^[65] 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).^[66][67]

To develop the world building in Night City, the team used four distinct visual styles—austere Entropism, colorful 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 Entropism. In Neokitsch, the rich use scarce materials, such as wood and marble, to construct their buildings, and wear clothes from animals.^[68] 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.^[69]

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.^[70]

Audio

V is voiced by Gavin Drea and Cherami Leigh for the male and female versions of V, respectively.^[71] 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.^[72] Silverhand is featured prominently in the game, with CD Projekt co-founder Marcin Iwiński recalling in an interview with Bloomberg News that Silverhand's dialogue count is second only to V.^[73]

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.^[74] The song is featured in the game and performed by El-P and Killer Mike as "Yankee and the Brave",^[75] a reference to the duo's fourth studio album, RTJ4 (2020).^[76] 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), and American musician Ilan Rubin, among others.^[77][75]

"I Really Want to Stay at Your House" is a song by British singer Rosa Walton written for the game.^{[lower-alpha 1]} 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.^[78][79] The song would later on go viral in 2022 after being utilised heavily in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and chart in the United Kingdom at number 68.^[80][81]

Marketing and release

Cyberpunk 2077 was announced in May 2012.^[82] Trailers for the game were released in January 2013,^[83] at E3 2018,^[84] and at E3 2019.^[85] The game was initially confirmed for Windows,^[86] with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One announced at E3 2018.^[84] Stadia was announced in August 2019.^[87]

At E3 2019, an initial release date of 16 April 2020 was announced.^[85] This was delayed to 17 September,^[88] then 19 November,^[89] and finally 10 December.^[90] The developers received death threats over the last delay.^[91] 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.^[92] 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.^[93][94]

With E3 2020 cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, CD Projekt's online event Night City Wire showed additional trailers, more gameplay,^[95][96][97] and making-of footage.^[98] Next-generation ports for Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 were initially scheduled for release in 2021,^[99] but were delayed in October 2021,^[100] before eventually releasing on 15 February 2022.^{[101][102][103]} Owners of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions were able to freely download the game on their respective next-generation models.^[104][105] The delayed standalone multiplayer was announced to launch after 2021.^[106][107]

As with The Witcher 2 and The Witcher 3, both Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment^[108] and Bandai Namco Entertainment served as physical distributors in North America and Central Europe,^[109] Australia, and New Zealand^[110] respectively. Spike Chunsoft published the physical PlayStation 4 copies in Japan.^[111]

The versions of Cyberpunk 2077 released in Japan and China were subject to a reduction in the amount of nudity and gore portrayed in order to meet rating agency requirements and censorship laws.^[112][113] 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", a reference to an internet meme in which Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping was compared to the titular character.^{[114][115][116][117]}

Promotion

Funko Pops were obtainable starting 16 April 2020.^[118] CD Projekt Red held a cosplay competition from June 2019 to October 2020.^[119][120] A card game created alongside publisher CMON Limited, Cyberpunk 2077 – 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.^[121] McFarlane Toys signed a three-year agreement to manufacture action figures.^[122] The Cyberpunk 2077-themed Xbox One X, which includes a digital copy and downloadable content,^[123] became the final limited edition of that console.^[124] Designed with the same aesthetic were video cards,^[125] gaming chairs,^[126] energy drinks,^[127] sneakers,^[128] smartphones exclusive to China,^[129] and peripherals.^[130][131] 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.^[132]

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.^[133] Digital items that come with every copy are the soundtrack, art booklet, Cyberpunk 2020 sourcebook, wallpapers, and Cyberpunk 2077: Your Voice comic.^[134] Purchases through CD Projekt's subsidiary GOG.com include the digital comic Cyberpunk 2077: Big City Dreams.^[135]

Downloadable content

Main page: Software:Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

Prior to the announcement of the game's only planned expansion, Phantom Liberty, CD Projekt Red released 18 different DLCs for the game which added cosmetics and additional gameplay content. One of the DLCs released included content from the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime.^[136] The expansion, which stars Idris Elba, was released in September 2023.^[137]

A physical release of the game for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, which includes Phantom Liberty, was announced on 21 November 2023. Players on PC could purchase this version digitally, and PlayStation 5 releases come with a digital code instead of a disc.^[138] This release, titled Ultimate Edition, was released on 5 December 2023.^[139] On the same day, CD Projekt released Update 2.1, which introduces a functioning Metro system, additional scenes with the V's romantic interest, and other quality-of-life changes.^[140]

In October 2023, CD Projekt Red would reveal that they have spent over $120 million on Cyberpunk 2077 since launch, accounting for updates, bug fixes and development/marketing of Phantom Liberty (it costing about $84 million). According to a report from Kotaku, the base game cost $174 million to develop and $142 million to market. The total cost of the game is now reportedly over $436 million, making it the second-most expensive video game to develop (behind Star Citizen).^[141]

Related media

The World of Cyberpunk 2077, a 192-page art book,^[142] was published by Dark Horse Books on 29 July 2020.^[143]

On 9 September, Dark Horse Comics brought out the first issue of a comic book series called Cyberpunk 2077: Trauma Team with writer Cullen Bunn and illustrator Miguel Valderrama.^[144] A number of other comic series in the world of Cyberpunk 2077 have also been published by Dark Horse Comics, including Cyberpunk 2077: Big City Dreams (2022), and Cyberpunk 2077: Blackout (2022).

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, an anime spin-off collaboration co-produced by CD Projekt Red and Trigger, premiered on 13 September 2022 on Netflix.^[145]

Reception

Pre-release

The game was highly anticipated before its release.^[146] It won over one hundred awards at E3 2018,^[147] including Best Game, Best Xbox One Game, Best PC Game,^[148] Best RPG,^[149] and People's Choice at IGN,^[150] Best Role-Playing Game and Game of the Show at Game Informer,^[151] Best of E3 at PC Gamer,^[152] and Game of the Show at GamesRadar+.^[153] The second trailer was considered one of the best at the expo,^{[154][155][156][157]} although writer William Gibson, credited with pioneering the cyberpunk subgenre, described it as "GTA skinned-over with a generic 80s retro-future".^[158] Gibson later responded more positively to the first gameplay demo.^[159] The first-person perspective, in contrast with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's third-person, was subject to criticism.^[160][161] Cyberpunk 2077 was the most widely discussed game of E3 2019,^[162] where it was presented awards for Best of E3 at GamesRadar+, PC Gamer, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, and Ars Technica,^{[163][164][165][166]} and Best Game, People's Choice, Best PS4 Game, Best Xbox One Game, Best PC Game, and Best RPG at IGN.^[167] The third trailer was lauded with emphasis on Reeves' reveal.^[168][169]

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.^[170] In response, CD Projekt Red made a public statement and reached out to Ruppert.^[171][172] 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.^[173]

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 Magazine (which did not receive a reviewer copy), violating the NDA could cost around $27,000 per violation.^[174] 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.^[175]

Post-release

Reception
Aggregate score Aggregator Score Metacritic PC: 86/100[176] PS4: 57/100[177] PS5: 75/100[178] XONE: 61/100[179] XSXS: 87/100[180] Review scores Publication Score Game Informer PC: 9/10[181] GameSpot PC: 7/10[183] GamesRadar+ PC: 5/5[184] IGN PC: 9/10[185] PC Gamer (US) PC: 78/100[186] PCGamesN PC: 9/10[187] The Guardian PC: [182] VG247 PC: [188]

The PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series releases of Cyberpunk 2077 received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.^{[176][178][180]} The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game received "mixed or average" reviews.^[177][179]

Critics praised the quality of the story as well as the depth and expansiveness of side quests,^[185] immersive atmosphere of the world,^[184] visual quality,^[189] and freshness of the cyberpunk setting.^[190] The game's systems such as crafting, driving mechanics, and combat received a mixed response.^[183] 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.^[191][192] Others took issue with the portrayal of transgender people, who they felt were fetishized by in-game material but were not given any meaningful role in the narrative.^{[183][193][194]}

On launch day, the game exceeded 1 million concurrent viewers on Twitch.^[195]

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.^[196] The million-plus daily player count continued for at least four weeks following the release of Edgerunners.^[197]

Technical issues

The release of Cyberpunk 2077 was a high-profile event and was considered a disastrous launch^[198][199] as a result of the game suffering from numerous bugs and performance issues, particularly on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions.^{[lower-alpha 2]} The Guardian called the release "a shambles",^[204] 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.^[198] 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.^[205][206]

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.^[183][185] 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.^[207][208] 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.^[209] 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";^[210] 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."^[211] 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.^[212][213] 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.^[214]

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.^[215] 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.^[216] 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;^[217] a second similar class-action suit had also been filed by January 2021.^[218] By May 2021, four separate lawsuits against CD Projekt had been filed over Cyberpunk 2077, and had been subsequently merged into one common action.^[219] CD Projekt proposed a settlement with the investors in December 2021, providing US$1.85 million to the group as part of the terms^[220] which was approved by a judge in January 2023.^[221] 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".^[222] 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.^[223]

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.^[224] 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.^[225] 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.^[226] 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.^[225] 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.^[225]

Edgerunners release

See also: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

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.^[227][228] This increase was partially attributed to the release of the Netflix anime series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, which garnered positive reviews from both critics and fans,^[229][230] 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."^[231] The series would again be referenced in the Cyberpunk 2.0 update that came alongside the Phantom Liberty downloadable content.^[232]

Sales

Cyberpunk 2077 received eight million pre-orders on all platforms, of which 74% were digital,^[233] and it received more pre-orders than The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt;^[234] one third of PC sales were through GOG.com.^[235] It was a best-seller on Steam in China.^[236] 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.^[237] According to a CD Projekt investors call, sales saw a drastic decline four days after release owing to the technical issues present.^[238] After the launch, analyst estimations for sales over 12 months fell from 30 million to 25.6 million.^[239]

Within twelve hours after its release, the game had over one million concurrent players on Steam.^[240] In Japan, the PlayStation 4 version of Cyberpunk 2077 sold an estimated 104,600 physical units during its debut week, making it the second best-selling retail game of the week in the country.^[241] The game passed 13 million units sold in December 2020.^[242][243] It had the biggest digital game launch of all time, selling 10.2 million digital units^[244] and grossed $609 million in digital sales by 31 December 2020.^[245] By September 2022, the game had sold over 20 million copies units.^[246] As of October 2023, it has sold over 25 million units.^[247]

Awards

Sequel

A sequel, codenamed "Project Orion", was announced in October 2022. It will be developed by CD Projekt North America, which has studios in both Vancouver and Boston. Several core team members working on Cyberpunk 2077 will be relocated to Boston to work on the game. The game's development will begin following the release of Phantom Liberty. The next installment is rumored to use Unreal Engine 5 due to the new technology partnership between Epic Games and CD Projekt Red.^{[269][270][271]} In June 2023, the director of Phantom Liberty expansion and upcoming sequel, Gabe Amatangelo confirmed the use of Unreal Engine in Cyberpunk 2077's sequel.^[272]

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

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