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 cyberpunk metropolis of Night City in California, within the dystopian Cyberpunk universe. The player assumes the role of V (voiced by Gavin Drea or Cherami Leigh depending on the player character's gender), a mercenary who gets reluctantly imbued with a cybernetic "biochip" containing an engram of legendary rockstar and terrorist Johnny Silverhand (portrayed by Keanu Reeves). As Johnny's consciousness begins overwriting V's own, the two must work together to separate from each other and save V's life by confronting the Arasaka Corporation, a powerful megacorporation acting as the de facto ruler of the city.
Cyberpunk 2077 began development following the release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine (2016). 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 LGBTQ+ characters received some criticism. It was also widely criticised for bugs and glitches, particularly on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions during their launch period. Sony removed the game 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 its perceived attempts at downplaying the severity of the technical problems before release; these were ultimately cleared with a settlement of US$1.85 million. The improvements and updates delivered by the developer since, together with the release of Phantom Liberty and the 2022 tie-in anime series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, led to a progressive reappraisal of the game.
As of July 2026, Cyberpunk 2077 had sold over 40 million copies, making it one of the best-selling video games of all time. Its total cost to develop and market (including updates and DLC) is reportedly between $436 million and around $440 million, making it one of the most expensive video games to develop. A sequel 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 (Body, Intelligence, Reflexes, Technical Ability, and Cool) 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 levelling, 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 (hacking) and Solo (combat). 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 colored 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 (with ricocheting bullets), Tech (which penetrates walls and enemies), and Smart (with homing bullets, only usable with specific cyberware). 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 (not including robots), with non-lethal options for weapons and cyberware.
The open world metropolis of Night City consists of seven regions: the corporate City Center, 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 (NPCs) 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 helped 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 (NC), 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; the city was founded in the mid-2040s and has continued to progress since. The city suffers from rampant gang violence, and corporate warfare, exacerbated by an ineffectual, 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 (Gavin Drea or Cherami Leigh), a freelance mercenary whose background changes based on player choice. 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 Olszewski (Erica Lindbeck), Jackie's girlfriend who runs an esoterica store; 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 (), 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), Arasaka's ruthless and fully-cybernetic 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, Jackie and T-Bug to steal a biochip called "the Relic" from the Arasaka Corporation. The heist goes awry when they witness Yorinobu Arasaka murder his father Saburo and frame it as poisoning. During their escape, T-Bug and Jackie are killed while the Relic's case is damaged, forcing V to slot the chip into their head. Dex shoots V and leaves them for dead to cover his tracks.
V awakens in a landfill, haunted by the memories of rocker-turned-terrorist Johnny Silverhand, who died carrying out an assault on Arasaka Tower in 2023. Goro Takemura, Saburo's bodyguard who suspects the truth, kills Dex and rescues V to use them as proof that Yorinobu murdered Saburo. Ripperdoc Viktor Vektor reveals that the Relic contains Johnny's engram and is responsible for reviving V, but is slowly overwriting V's mind with Johnny's consciousness, leaving V with a limited time to live.