Cyberpunk 2077

Characters and setting

Cyberpunk 2077 takes place in Night City (NC), an independent megacity and city-state situated between the Free States of North California and South California,[38] which functions as a corporatocracy unaffected by federal or state legislation; this place has over three decades of tumultuous history leading up to the year of 2077.[39] The city suffers from rampant gang violence[40] and corporate warfare,[41] exacerbated by an ineffectual and corrupt municipal government[42] and police force.[43] Night City relies on robotic technology for everyday functions such as waste management, building and infrastructure maintenance, and public transportation.[44] The city's architecture and fashions are derived from the four aesthetics eras it underwent—Entropism, Kitsch, Neo-Militarism, and Neo-Kitsch. Homelessness and poverty are widespread in the city but does not preclude cybernetic modification for Night City's underclasses, leading to both cosmetic addiction and high levels of violence. Those whose addictions and heavy modifications have rendered them mentally unstable, known as cyberpsychos, are dealt with by the police tactical unit MaxTac.[45][46] Privatized health corporations such as Trauma Team utilise paramilitary doctors for rapid medical services.[47] Due to the constant threat of physical harm, open carry is permitted for all residents of Night City.[48]

The primary protagonist of Cyberpunk 2077 is Vincent / Valerie, known as V (Gavin Drea or Cherami Leigh), a freelance mercenary whose background changes based on player choice.[49] V is accompanied by Johnny Silverhand (Keanu Reeves), a legendary rock star and terrorist who now exists as a digitised 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 prostitute who partners with Dex and V's crew to organise 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), 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.[50]

Plot

The game opens with one of three lifepaths for the player character V—Nomad, Streetkid, or Corpo—each leading to a partnership with street thug Jackie Welles and netrunner T-Bug as mercenaries in Night City.

In 2077, fixer Dex DeShawn hires V and Jackie to steal a biochip called "the Relic" from the Arasaka Corporation. The job collapses when they witness Yorinobu Arasaka murdering his father, Saburo, and framing it as poisoning. During their escape, T-Bug is killed, Jackie is mortally wounded, and the Relic's case is damaged, forcing V to slot the chip into their head. Dex, angered by the fallout, shoots V and leaves them for dead.

V awakens in a landfill, haunted by the digital ghost of rocker-turned-terrorist Johnny Silverhand, who in 2023 carried out an attack on Arasaka Tower with Rogue Amendiares, a Fixer in the present day, and other mercenaries. Johnny perished in the attack with V seeing his memories of the event. V is then rescued by Saburo's loyal bodyguard, Goro Takemura, who suspects the truth and wishes to use V as proof that Yorinobu killed Saburo. Ripperdoc Viktor Vector reveals the biochip's resurrection nanotech is overwriting V's mind with Johnny's engram, leaving only weeks to find a cure. Johnny, initially antagonistic, resolves to help V while also utilising the opportunity to try and take down Arasaka again.

Teaming with Takemura, V pursues two leads: capturing Arasaka scientist Anders Hellman with the help of nomad Panam Palmer and the Aldecaldos clan, and rescuing Evelyn Parker, who commissioned the heist. Hellman is caught but is unable to help V, and later given up to Takemura. With aid from Evelyn's friend Judy Álvarez, V learns Evelyn was hacked and sold to "Scavs", a group known for kidnapping and harvesting cybernetics from people. Evelyn was abused by her kidnappers and, despite V rescuing her, later kills herself. Using Evelyn's braindance memories, V discovers she learned of the Relic from the Voodoo Boys; a gang of very private netrunners, who wanted Johnny's engram to reach beyond the Blackwall; a firewall that protects the internet and world from rogue AIs.

Through them, V relives Johnny's perceived past. In 2013, Johnny's girlfriend Alt Cunningham created Soulkiller, an AI that transfers minds into cyberspace but destroys the brain. Arasaka used Soulkiller on Alt, imprisoning her in their digital fortress, Mikoshi. Johnny's later nuclear attack freed her, allowing her to escape past into the Blackwall, to become an AI, but ended with his own capture and upload via Soulkiller. Arasaka's "Secure Your Soul" program and the Relic stem from this technology. V communicates with Alt's consciousness beyond the Blackwall and strikes a deal: if V grants her access to Arasaka's subnet and Mikoshi, she can separate V and Johnny.

Separately, Takemura has resolved to take his information to the Arasaka executives. He and V are able to capture Hanako Arasaka, Yorinobu's sister, to prove his guilt, but V is forced to flee after Arasaka soldiers attack. Following the ambush, Hanako reaches out to V and offers to help them in exchange for their assistance in ousting Yorinobu, which Johnny greatly opposes.

In the final act, V must choose to either assault Arasaka Tower or accept Hanako's offer. The attack can be carried out solo, with Rogue (Johnny takes control of V's body in this scenario), or with the Aldecaldos. Alternatively, siding with Hanako successfully ousts Yorinobu and sees Arasaka remove and destroy the Relic. All paths involve V defeating Adam Smasher. Regardless, due to the engram's prolonged presence in V's body, the biochip's effects are irreversible. The results leave V with a shorter lifespan in their own body but could offer Johnny a full life, as the Relic has tailored the body for him. Depending on the player's choice, V either uploads their own engram to Mikoshi awaiting a new body, lives on in their current body with a shortened lifespan while seeking means to undo the damage, or permanently surrenders their body to Johnny and leaves beyond the Blackwall with Alt—in the latter ending, which is not accessible if V accepts Hanako's offer, Johnny leaves Night City to start anew.

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 themself from a downtrodden and lowly perspective.[51] 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.[52]

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, commercialisation, cruelty, and satisfaction, remain as mainstays in the political landscape of Night City.[49] 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.[53]

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.[54]

Game design

CD Projekt Red used a first-person perspective to immerse the player further in the world and home in on the megacorporation motif.[14] 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.[55] 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.[56]

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".[57] To reuse the stories written during the game's development, unused parts from the main story were turned into side quests.[58]

Technology

Cyberpunk 2077 was developed using REDengine 4, the fourth iteration of CD Projekt Red's internal game engine.[59] 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 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.[60] 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.[61]

Although Cyberpunk 2077 was initially developed using REDengine 3 as far back as 2013,[62] 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.[61] Nearly every aspect of REDengine was changed as a result, including the particle effects editor.[63] 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.[64] Cyberpunk 2077 is the final game to use REDengine, as future games from CD Projekt Red will instead be developed using Unreal Engine 5.[65]

REDengine 4 implemented various lighting adjustments to create a more realistic world, including hardware-accelerated real-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.[66] 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.[67]

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,[68] multinational technology company Nvidia to implement real-time ray tracing, and developer QLOC for quality assurance.[69] In addition, artificial intelligence company Jali Research helped CD Projekt Red implement lip syncing for all ten localisations through procedural generation.[70]

Art

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 neighbourhoods 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.[71] 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".[72] 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).[73] To design the buildings in Night City, the team consulted with urban planners and drew upon the themes of Brutalist architecture.[74][72] The game's yellow-themed design is an attempt to distinguish Cyberpunk from existing icons in its genre.[75] The designs of Marcello Gandini helped shape the appearance of many of the cars in the game.[76] 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).[77][78]

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.[79] 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 civilisation around the buildings.[80]

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.[81]

Voice work

Gavin Drea and Cherami Leigh provide the voice of the male and female versions of V, respectively.[82] CD Projekt Red sought a suitable voice actor for the role of Johnny Silverhand, and approached Keanu Reeves in July 2018 for the role. 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.[83] 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.[84] The localisation 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.[85]

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.[150] Digital items that come with every copy are the soundtrack, art booklet, Cyberpunk 2020 sourcebook, wallpapers, and Cyberpunk2077: Your Voice comic.[151] Purchases through CD Projekt's subsidiary GOG.com include the digital comic Cyberpunk2077: Big City Dreams.[152]

A physical release of the game for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, which includes Phantom Liberty, was announced on 21 November 2023.[153] Players on PC could purchase this version digitally, and PlayStation 5 releases come with a digital code instead of a disc.[154] This release, titled the "Ultimate Edition", was released on 5 December 2023.[155] The Ultimate Edition was released for the Nintendo Switch 2 as a launch title on 5 June 2025.[156] This version received notable media attention for being one of the only third-party games on the system at launch to not be released on a Game-Key Card, instead featuring the complete game on a 64GB cartridge.[157][158]

DLC and update

In September 2022, CD Projekt Red released Patch 1.6, also known as the "Edgerunners Update", which added free DLC and in-game content inspired by the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime.[159][160] The Phantom Liberty expansion, which stars Idris Elba, was released in September 2023.[161]

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,[162] and was met with positive reviews.[163][164] Nearly three years after the game's release, many minor bugs have been fixed.[165] "Update 2.0 has given Cyberpunk 2077 a pulse that didn't exist before," Polygon reported.[166] 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.[167] CD Projekt apologised, stating that it was unaware these comments had been included.[168] The translations were provided by an external agency hired for localisation,[85] and the company said they would be replaced in the next update.[169] Following the 2.0 update, Cyberpunk 2077 became the first game to feature AI-powered ray tracing with Nvidia DLSS 3.5.[170][171]

Along with the release of the "Ultimate Edition" on 5 December 2023, CD Projekt released Update 2.1, which was described as "the last major update",[172] which introduces a functioning Metro system, additional scenes with V's romantic interest, and other quality improvements.[173] As of February 2024, only 17 developers remained working on Cyberpunk 2077. Three months later, none were left.[174] 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.[175] Patch 2.21 adds support for Nvidia DLSS 4, along with other changes, making Cyberpunk 2077 the first game to utilise DLSS 4's new multi-frame generation technology.[176][177]

Pre-release

The game was highly anticipated before its release. It won over one hundred awards at E3 2018, including Best Game, Best Xbox One Game, Best PC Game, Best RPG, and People's Choice at IGN, Best Role-Playing Game and Game of the Show at Game Informer,[188] Best of E3 at PC Gamer,[189] and Game of the Show at GamesRadar+.[190] The second trailer was considered one of the best at the expo,[191][192][193][194] although writer William Gibson, credited with pioneering the cyberpunk subgenre, described it as "GTA skinned-over with a generic 80s retro-future".[195] Gibson later responded more positively to the first gameplay demo.[196] The first-person perspective, in contrast with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's third-person, was subject to criticism.[197][198] Cyberpunk2077 was the most widely discussed game of E3 2019,[199][200] where it was presented awards for Best of E3 at GamesRadar+,[201] PC Gamer,[202] Rock Paper Shotgun,[203] Ars Technica,[204] and Best Game, People's Choice, Best PS4 Game, Best Xbox One Game, Best PC Game, and Best RPG at IGN.[205] The third trailer was lauded with emphasis on Reeves' reveal.[206][207]

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.[208][209] At this point, Cyberpunk 2077 included 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.[210] In response, CD Projekt Red made a public statement and reached out to Ruppert.[211][212] 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.[213] 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.[214]

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.[215] 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.[216]

Post-release

The PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series releases of Cyberpunk 2077 received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[218][220][222] The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game received "mixed or average" reviews.[219][221] The Switch 2 version of the Ultimate Edition received "generally favorable" reviews.[217] Additionally, 66% of critics recommended the game, according to OpenCritic.[223]

Critics praised the quality of the story as well as the depth and expansiveness of side quests,[228] immersive atmosphere of the world,[227] visual quality,[235] and freshness of the cyberpunk setting.[236] The game's systems such as crafting, driving mechanics, and combat received a mixed response.[226] 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.[237][238] Others took issue with what was seen as misogynistic,[239][240] xenophobic,[225] and transphobic portrayals, arguing that transgender characters were fetishised by in-game material but were not given any meaningful role in the narrative.[226][241]

Within hours of its midnight GMT launch on 10 December, the game set a record with over one million concurrent single players on Steam,[242] and one million live viewers on Twitch,[243] doubling the previous record set by Fallout 4 in 2015.[244] On Steam, user reviews for Cyberpunk 2077 became increasingly positive over time. The game was rated "mostly positive" shortly after its late 2020 release,[245] reached "very positive" after two and a half years,[246][247] and by January 2025 – more than four years after launch – it attained the "overwhelmingly positive" rating.[248][249] Following the release of the anime series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners on Netflix in September 2022, along with several post-release patches, the game's player count on PC surged to levels not seen since its initial release.[250] The million-plus daily player count continued for at least four weeks following the release of Edgerunners.[251]

Technical issues

The release of Cyberpunk 2077 was a high-profile event and was considered a disastrous launch, as a result of the game suffering from numerous bugs and performance issues, particularly on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions; Vox reports that there was even a bug causing characters' penises and breasts to protrude from their clothing.[260] The Guardian called the release "a shambles",[261] 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.[262] 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.[263][264][265]

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.[226][228] 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.[266][267] 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.[268] On 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";[269] 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".[270] 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.[271][272] 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.[273] 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.[274]

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.[275] The review aggregator 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.[276] 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;[277] a second similar class-action suit had also been filed by January 2021.[278] By May 2021, four separate lawsuits against CD Projekt had been filed over Cyberpunk 2077, and had been subsequently merged into one common action.[279] CD Projekt proposed a settlement with the investors in December 2021, providing US$1.85 million to the group as part of the terms,[280] which was approved by a judge in January 2023.[281] 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".[282] 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.[283]

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 organisation 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.[284] Co-CEO Marcin Iwiński issued an open message to players on 13 January 2021, apologising 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 optimised to run on personal computers over to consoles, particularly the older Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles. 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.[285] 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.[286] 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 optimising the game for newer consoles, prior to any further additional content development.[286]

Edgerunners release

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 in 2022 of up to 18%, with 94% of the sales being digital.[287][288] This increase was partially attributed to the release of the Netflix anime series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, which garnered positive reviews from both critics and audience,[289][290] and the concurrent release of a game update which added tie-in material from the series. CD Projekt Red recognised 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".[291] The series would again be referenced in the 2.0 update that came alongside the Phantom Liberty expansion.[292]

Financials

Cyberpunk 2077 received eight million pre-orders on all platforms, of which 74% were digital,[293] and it received more pre-orders than The Witcher3: Wild Hunt;[294] one third of PC sales were through GOG.com.[295] In June 2019, the game's pre-orders quickly climbed to the top of Steam's best-seller list in China.[296] A year later, the game had more pre-orders in China than any other country,[297] despite it not being approved for sale in China at the time.[298][299] 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.[300] According to a CD Projekt investors call, sales saw a drastic decline four days after release owing to the technical issues present.[301] After the launch, analyst estimations for sales over 12 months fell from 30 million to 25.6 million.[302][303]

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.[304][305] The game passed 13 million units sold in December 2020.[306][307] It had the biggest digital game launch of all time, selling 10.2 million digital units,[308] and grossed US$609 million in digital sales by 31 December 2020.[309] By September 2022, the game had sold over 20 million units.[310][311] As of October 2023, it has sold over 25 million units.[312][313][314] CD Projekt announced the game had sold 30 million copies by November 2024,[315][316] and over 35 million a year later,[317][318] making it one of the best-selling games of all time.

In October 2023, CD Projekt Red revealed that it had spent $125 million on Cyberpunk 2077 since launch, accounting for updates and bug fixes.[319] The base game cost $174 million to develop,[320] while the development and marketing of Phantom Liberty cost roughly $85 million.[321] The game's total production cost is said to have been between $436 million,[322] and around $440 million,[323][324][325][326] making it one of the most expensive video games to develop.

Accolades

In 2013, Cyberpunk 2077s 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, 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, 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.

In 2021, following its launch, Cyberpunk 2077 received four nominations at the British Academy Games Awards, including two for voice acting: Cherami Leigh as the female V and Carla Tassara as Judy Alvarez. The game earned two nominations at The Game Awards, for Best Score and Music and Best Role Playing Game. It received three nominations at the New York Game Awards and a nomination at four consecutive awards: the SXSW Gaming Awards, D.I.C.E. Awards, Game Developers Choice Awards, and Guild of Music Supervisors Awards. It also earned two nominations at the Visual Effects Society Awards and won the Best Game Trailer Audio category at the Game Audio Network Guild Awards, where it received a total of four nominations.

After an extended period of updates, bug fixes, and the release of the Phantom Liberty expansion, CD Projekt successfully revitalised the Cyberpunk 2077 franchise,[313][327][328] earning the game its first The Game Awards win in the Best Ongoing Game category, three years after its release.[329] 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.

Comics

The World of Cyberpunk2077, a 192-page art book,[359] was published by Dark Horse Books in July 2020.[360][361] By September of the same year, 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.[362][363] Several other comics set in the world of Cyberpunk 2077 have also been released by the same publisher, including Cyberpunk 2077: Big City Dreams, which won the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story or Comic in 2023,[364][365] and Cyberpunk 2077: Blackout (2022).[366]

Other

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.[367]

Cyberpunk 2077: No Coincidence, a novel by Polish author Rafał Kosik set in the world of the video game, was published in August 2023.[368] It was translated to English by Stefan Kiełbasiewicz and published by Orbit.[369]

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, a spin-off anime series co-produced by CD Projekt Red and Trigger, premiered on 13 September 2022 on Netflix.[370] A second series adaptation was announced during Netflix's Geeked Week event.[371] 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.[372]