Cyberpunk 2077: What's On the Horizon
Cyberpunk 2077's initial launch was rocky, to say the least; riddled with bugs and horror stories of crunch and abuse, CD Projekt Red has had their work cut out for them the past couple of years mending Cyberpunk 2077's image. After several updates, patches, and hotfixes to make the game balanced and playable, Cyberpunk 2077 looks like it's just getting its start as a franchise. CD Projekt Red has several projects in the works for the Cyberpunk IP that will expand the story of Night City, giving their neon-drenched dystopic RPG the Witcher treatment of long-term game support. Here's what the studio has planned for the near future:
Cyberpunk Edgerunners is an upcoming 10-episode, standalone story set in the Cyberpunk 2077 universe. Debuting on Netflix on September 13th, the animation is by Studio Trigger, a Japanese anime studio responsible for shows like Kill La Kill, Darling in the Franxx, and Little Witch Academia. Game publishers have become increasingly interested in transmedia (telling stories across multiple platforms); this trending interest in transmedia follows Riot Game's smashing success story of Arcane, the League of Legends show following the origin story of Jinx, a playable character. The latest win for Arcane is one of its highest accolades yet: it won Outstanding Animated Program at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards. Arcane is the first gaming show to win an Emmy, and this win has been a promising sign to other studios that transmedia is a lucrative way to market your game, draw in new players, and expand the lore of your game's universe.
To help support the Netflix launch of their show, CD Projekt Red is dropping the Edgerunners Update today. The goal of this update is to help bridge the storylines between the animated show and the game campaign, as well as to provide additional fixes, improvements, and content. If you want to read about everything included in this latest update, you can read the official news update from CD Projekt Red. This update acts as Patch 1.6 and will be the final major update to PS4/Xbox One. The upcoming DLC (detailed below) will extend to new-gen consoles exclusively.
With the update helping amp up the Netflix show, the next big-ticket item for CD Projekt Red is the new Cyberpunk 2077 DLC, Phantom Liberty. (Trailer linked.) Details about the DLC are scarce at the moment. V, the game's protagonist, will swear an oath to serve the New United States of America, with the ghost of Johnny Silverhand dogging the back of V's mind with warnings against such service. Keanu Reeves has officially confirmed he is returning to his role of Johnny Silverhand for the upcoming DLC. Players will get new weapons, a new area of Night City to explore, and new storylines and NPCs-- but beyond that, the main plot is still mostly a mystery. The DLC will release at some point in 2023. (My estimate is the Fall-Winter region of 2023 to pair with holiday schedules.)
What do you think of the expansions made to the game and lore of Cyberpunk 2077?
