Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077 is a 2020 action role-playing game developed by 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 in California, within the dystopian Cyberpunk universe. The player assumes the role of V, a mercenary who gets reluctantly imbued with a cybernetic "bio-chip" containing an engram of legendary rockstar and terrorist Johnny Silverhand. As Johnny's consciousness begins overwriting V's own, the two must work together to separate from each other and save V's life.
The game's development began following the release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine. 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, Q-LOC, and Jali Research to aid the production, while Pondsmith served as a consultant. The original score was composed by Marcin Przybyłowicz, and featured the contributions of several licensed artists. After years of anticipation, Cyberpunk 2077 was released for PlayStation 4, Stadia, Windows, and Xbox One in December 2020, followed by the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in February 2022, the Nintendo Switch 2 in June 2025 as a launch title, and macOS in July 2025. A DLC expansion, Phantom Liberty, was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S in September 2023, and paired with the Nintendo Switch 2 and macOS releases.
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 criticised for bugs and glitches, particularly on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions during its launch period. 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. As of November 2025, the game had sold over 35 million units, making it one of the best-selling video games of all time. Its total cost to develop and market is reportedly between $436 million and around $440 million, making it one of the most expensive video games to develop. A sequel, Cyberpunk 2, was announced in October 2022 and is in development.
Gameplay
Cyberpunk 2077 is an action role-playing game played from a first-person perspective as V, a mercenary whose voice, face, hairstyle, body type and modifications, background, and clothing are customisable. There are also five attributes that can be customised to suit the player's gameplay style, with a sixth attribute — Relic — being introduced in the Phantom Liberty expansion.In the game, players choose from three life paths: Nomad, Street Kid, or Corpo. These choices establish V's background and determine their starting location, prologue mission, and initial clothing. While life paths do not grant advantages in perks, attributes, or leveling, they unlock unique dialogue options based on V’s history. For instance, the Street Kid path starts in Heywood and offers extensive knowledge of Night City’s streets and gangs. The Corpo path begins in the City Center, providing V with the expertise needed to deal with the upper echelon of the corporate world. Finally, the Nomad path starts in the Badlands, featuring a V who is an outsider to the city with specific knowledge regarding the acquisition and transport of corporate goods.
The gameplay is flexible: the two primary play styles are Netrunner and Solo. V has a number of maneuvers to reposition in combat, including sprinting, taking cover, double-jumping, and sliding; many of these abilities can be unlocked or upgraded through cyberware implants installed by a "ripperdoc". Weapon use increases accuracy and reloading speed, which are reflected in character animations. Equipment, such as weapons and armour, is governed by a coloured tier system, and is split into melee and ranged options. Melee strikes can be dealt with close-combat weapons. There are three types of ranged weapons, all of which can be customised and modified—Power, Tech, and Smart. The game has four types of damage that can be inflicted and resisted—Physical, Thermal, Electric, and Toxic. The game can be completed without killing anyone, with non-lethal options for weapons and cyberware.
The open world metropolis of Night City consists of seven regions: the corporate City Centre, immigrant-inhabited Watson, luxurious Westbrook, inner-city Heywood, gang-infested Pacifica, the industrial suburbs of Santo Domingo, and the breakaway Dogtown in the Phantom Liberty expansion. Its surrounding area, the Badlands, can also be explored. 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. V owns an apartment and has access to a garage, and can purchase four additional apartments throughout the city. There is a full day-night cycle and dynamic weather, which affects the way non-player characters behave. Depending on the location, law enforcement may be alerted if V commits a crime. Pedestrians are vulnerable to vehicular collisions and gunfire. Radio stations are available to listen to. Night City features many non-English-speaking characters, whose languages can be translated with special implants. V also periodically uses a "Braindance"; a technology that allows one to undergo other people's experiences.
Branching dialogues enable interaction with NPCs and actions in quests, and the player's in-game choices can lead to different endings. Experience points are obtained from main quests and used to upgrade stats; side quests yield "street cred", unlocking skills, vendors, places, and additional quests. Quests are assigned by characters known as Fixers, shady underworld middlemen who specialise in information brokering and smuggling. Throughout the game, V is aided by various companions. Consumables, such as food, drinks, and drugs, are used for healing and temporary enhancements, and objects can be inspected in V's inventory. Minigames include hacking, boxing, auto racing, martial arts, and shooting ranges.
Synopsis
Characters and setting
Cyberpunk 2077 takes place in Night City, an independent megacity and city-state situated between the Free States of North California and South California, 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. The city suffers from rampant gang violence, and corporate warfare, exacerbated by an ineffectual and corrupt municipal government and police force. Night City relies on robotic technology for everyday functions such as waste management, building and infrastructure maintenance, and public transportation. 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. Privatized health corporations such as Trauma Team utilise paramilitary doctors for rapid medical services. Due to the constant threat of physical harm, open carry is permitted for all residents of Night City.The primary protagonist of Cyberpunk 2077 is Vincent / Valerie, known as V, a freelance mercenary whose background changes based on player choice. V is accompanied by Johnny Silverhand, 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, V's best friend and fellow mercenary; T-Bug, a netrunner who provides support to V and Jackie; Viktor "Vik" Vector, a ripperdoc who maintains a close friendship with V; Misty Olzewski, Jackie's girlfriend who runs an esoterica; Dexter "Dex" DeShawn, a local fixer in Night City; Evelyn Parker, a prostitute who partners with Dex and V's crew to organise a heist; Judy Álvarez, Evelyn's friend and a braindance editor who helps V in their investigations; Saburo Arasaka, the founder of the Arasaka Corporation; Yorinobu Arasaka, Saburo's youngest son; Hanako Arasaka, Yorinobu's sister and Saburo's only daughter; Goro Takemura, Saburo's personal bodyguard; Rogue Amendiares, the owner of the Afterlife nightclub and one of Johnny's former partners; Panam Palmer, a nomad from the Aldecaldos clan; Saul Bright, the leader of the Aldecaldos; Alt Cunningham, a netrunner and Johnny's ex-girlfriend who became an artificial intelligence construct; and Adam Smasher, a ruthless cyborg who works as Arasaka's head of security.
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. 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 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, 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.