We’re Starting to See the World of Cyberpunk 2077

It’s been three weeks since E3 2018 concluded, and the emergence of Cyberpunk 2077 is still a big topic worth discussing for good reason. Polish developer CD Projekt Red announced the game way, way back in May 2012, over six years ago, with nothing but a piece of concept art that showed the visual style they were aiming for. It was an extremely early announcement, made as an advertisement to increase hiring for full development. But even considering that factor, it’s worth remembering just how long it’s been since then and everything that’s happened in the time since the announcement.

(Everything that’s happened in gaming, to be specific. We’d be here all day if I discussed the state of current events over the last six years.)

The announcement was followed up with a concept trailer in January 2013, which ended by saying the game would come “when it’s ready.” It was bound to take a while to surface, let alone release, with an estimate like that. But even the biggest pessimists didn’t think a game announced before Sony and Microsoft revealed the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One wouldn’t surface until those systems were nearly five years old. It’s also surfacing during a time when successors to those consoles are being discussed, and could launch within around two to three years. CD Projekt Red has been working on this game a good while, but some signs suggest it might have been worth it.

Cyberpunk 2077 is an adaptation of the Cyberpunk 2020 tabletop game, and will take place in Night City, California 57 years after that game’s events, hence its name. The main character is V, an urban mercenary whose design, gender, occupation, and body modifications are up to the player. The developers intend for this to be an RPG in every sense, meaning even the clothing will affect how character interactions progress, let alone their decisions. V’s best attributes will depend on the class chosen, meaning they can be most adept at combat, hacking, or machinery — though it appears all those attributes will be necessary for many of the game’s missions.

This will be an open world title, so they’re giving players the opportunity to explore all the innards of Night City, a fictional environment clearly based on a possible and likely reality. It’s a megacity within the Free State of California, a segment of the state controlled by corporations whose inhabitants don’t have to adhere to the laws of the rest of the state or country. The description makes it clear that this city isn’t the only one ruled by a megacorporation that’s taken over the functions of a government, something that’s assuredly difficult to imagine in our current era.

Night City is split into six segments, which include a corporate-fueled City Center, a suburban segment, a gang-infested segment, and one inhabited mostly by immigrants. Nearly the entire city is awash with technology, despite the massive homeless population and level of violence. Basically, it sounds like the perfect setting for a dystopian cyberpunk city.

It’s also a good facsimile of a metropolitan city as it exists today. The screenshots and trailer show segments of the city that are technologically advanced, while one that stands out thanks to looking almost as if time stood still.

The combination of the promised level of character customization in the description above and the developer’s history with the Witcher games led several to believe the game would have a third-person perspective. But it will actually be a first-person experience, to place players within the feet of their characters and emphasize the gunplay. Despite the array of weapons, though, the game will also have stealth options. The gameplay features and presentation make it sound like a Deus Ex game with character customization, something you’ll hear few complaining about given the up-in-the-air status of that franchise.

The press was able to see a long demo of the game played behind closed doors at E3, and many who saw it were impressed. But others who still liked what they saw were disappointed at the presence of stereotypical minorities, particularly in the taxi drivers wearing turbans. Part of me wants to think this is intentional, as commentary to show how little America could progress over five decades regarding social issues, which wouldn’t be difficult to imagine. But I doubt that’s actually the case.

It’s also worth noting that though the press demo showed how this is a fully-functioning video game, it also showed a project that still needs polishing. There was some hope that it could release next year, but the signs of that aren’t looking good thanks to comments from Cyberpunk 2020 creator Mike Pondsmith and CD Projekt RED’s Adam Kiciński. They both said the game could be years away. It will be funny if (and likely “when”) the game is released as a cross-generation title, given that, as mentioned above, it was announced before the current-generation systems were even revealed.

There were also reports that the game’s performance struggled at times during the demo, despite it running on a powerful PC rig. Unless they can seriously smooth out the performance, I’m dreading how this will run on the base and slim versions of the PS4 and XB1. Before you possibly think it could be completely moved to next-generation consoles, the developer reaffirmed that it’s targeting current-gen systems.

They have to show the demo to the public one of these days, and hopefully that will happen soon. But don’t be surprised if they wait a while, since it doesn’t sound like this game will arrive until at least — interestingly enough — 2020.