Cyberpunk 2077

An in-depth look at CD Projekt RED’s ambitious new RPG

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You’ve likely seen the Cyberpunk 2077 demo by now. After keeping it behind closed doors at E3, the Polish developer suddenly released the entire thing on YouTube. It was a power move by a studio aware of how anticipated this follow-up to The Witcher 3 is, and the video is now sitting at over ten million views: Figures usually reserved for Rockstar games.

When I sit down in a cavernous boardroom in the studio’s Warsaw headquarters to see the game, I’m aware it’s the same demo. But the difference is, this one is just for me. The developer manning the controller tells me he’s relieved there’s no time limit, no queues of hundreds of people waiting eagerly outside, and he takes the opportunity to give me a slower, more detailed demonstration, stopping to take a closer look at things. It’s a game world that aches to be studied and scrutinized, with a cluttered, lived-in feel that few virtual worlds manage to accomplish this well.

One of the most striking things about the game’s setting, Night City, is how vibrant it is compared to the dark, rain-soaked dystopias usually associated with the genre. Cyberpunk 2077 is set in a future California, and writer Stanislaw Swiecicki tells me that the studio is going to great lengths to capture the Golden State’s distinctive atmosphere.

“We want to give Night City a Californian feel,” he says. “It’s not just another abstract dystopia. I visited LA for the first time this year and it was very inspiring, especially walking along Venice Beach. We want to bring some of that vibe to the game. The sun, the palm trees, but a darker side, too. It’s an incredibly diverse place, with all these different people, fashions, and cultures sharing the same space, but it can also be dangerous.”