One City, Many Stories — Building Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 and Update 2.5

Watch it, choom. The following article features spoilers for Cyberpunk: Edgerunners!

__________________________

Author: Bartosz Sztybor | VP, Franchise; Showrunner

Thousands of DMs. Really, thousands of DMs. But also social media posts, articles, and fanfics asking, demanding, or just stating that David is alive! People say Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was a massive hit, and though I still don’t fully acknowledge that, it was. People loved it, loved the relationship between David and Lucy, and that’s why I got all those DMs — “Bring David back” or “Is Lucy safe?” So with those two things being a fact — Edgerunners was a hit; people want David back — what should our approach to Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 be?

Do the total opposite.

Create the first teaser where you bluntly state that DAVID IS DEAD, write a totally different story with a cast of new characters, and work with a new director and new anime crew to deliver a completely different art and animation style. That’s how you do it, the rebel way. Was I afraid? Yes. Did I have nightmares? Oh, of course, I still do. But the fans' reception of the “David is Dead” teaser and reactions after Anime Expo’s first episode screening gave me strength to believe I made the right choice.

But why do something completely different? Because that’s the most sincere thing to do, because that’s the CD PROJEKT RED way — to lead the way and not follow — and because that’s just a better artistic choice. Edgerunners is not a story of David and Lucy, it’s a story about people that somehow don’t fit the system but try to beat it, about all those edgerunners that try to fight the world, but have too many flaws to win. It’s about love and the sense of sacrifice in a world where you should think only about yourself. It’s about choices and consequences and how other people shape us.

That’s why Edgerunners 2 is, in a way, very similar to Edgerunners. It has the same core questions, but the answers are different, because the characters and their journey differ. What I love about this one is that it has its own style, punk energy, and a very indie vibe — but it’s also a mirror to Edgerunners.

We had a zero-to-hero story about a boy who wants to be a big famous edgerunner. Now we have a hero-to-zero story about a celebrity edgerunner who loses everything. In Edgerunners we saw a teenager's point of view and learned how his mother affected him and his choices. In Edgerunners 2 we see the parents’ perspective and what pushed them to make the choices they did, which then later shaped their kids.

__________________________

Author: Paweł Sasko | Associate Game Director

Cyberpunk 2077 has always worked best when you can feel it’s one consistent universe, a nexus of stories told from different perspectives. V, Johnny, David, Lucy, the characters from our comics and now the new crew from Edgerunners 2 all experience the same world, but they see something different in it. I wanted the game to acknowledge that connection directly. And I wanted to create an update for the game that will be much more meaningful than the one we created for Edgerunners in 2022.

Players will unlock a new quest that takes place before the events of the show, following the last job of Team King. It introduces King, Meshuga, Miguel, and Emily, and takes players into a part of Night City they have never properly explored before. From the beginning, believability and immersion were the most important for me. If these characters exist both in the game and in the show, they should feel like the same people. That is why it was incredibly important to get the same voice actors from Edgerunners 2 into Cyberpunk 2077. 

From the beginning, believability and immersion were the most important for me.

Their voices, performances and chemistry are part of who those characters are. We brainstormed the framing for this story with Bartosz, agreed on how their personalities should be depicted, and had the show writers do editorial work over dialog lines, to make sure it’s all consistent and authentic to Edgerunners 2. I wanted it to feel like V has simply encountered another story already happening somewhere in Night City.

Beyond that, we wanted to keep upgrading the city itself and expanding the player experience. My personal favorite new feature is dual wielding. There is something wonderfully Cyberpunk about walking into a fight with two pistols or revolvers and committing completely to that fantasy, commemorating your friend Jackie, holding his two golden guns. We have created a proper new playstyle for the whole game, supported by new perks in the Cool tree, working with all specific effects of each individual gun. It is stylish, dangerous, and a little unreasonable, which is why I love it a lot. Our intention was to give you another reason to come back to this world and replay the game, while making new choices and exploring the new dual wielding build.

We hope Cross Platform Mod Support is another reason to keep coming back to Night City. Mods have been an important part of Cyberpunk 2077 on PC for years, but bringing them directly into the game across platforms is a very different challenge. With 2.5, the new Mods panel allows players to discover and download supported mods from inside the game, including consoles and Mac. Making that ecosystem work across such different hardware and platform requirements took a lot of effort, but we worked closely with the most influential modders of Cyberpunk 2077 to deliver what they need. The task itself is not trivial, and there is more to be done to expand further available mods, but everything we did so far already opens a door that traditionally stays closed for console players. More people can now experience the creativity of the modding community. As a studio we have always supported modders; many of our devs started their professional careers by learning how to mod games, and we deeply appreciate the craftsmanship and passion it takes.

There is much more in 2.5, from City Tours that let you discover the history and landmarks of Night City, to the expanded tarot hunt of all Minor Arcana cards, and new clothing sets, a new radio station (with Edgerunners 1 and Edgerunners 2 music), requested quality-of-life improvements, and new technology under the hood. Some features are large, others small but impactful, like a FOV slider on consoles. Together they all serve the same goal: make Night City richer, more coherent, and more believable, for our players.

That is ultimately why we are updating Cyberpunk 2077 again. This world keeps giving us reasons to return to it. Edgerunners 2 adds another perspective, 2.5 brings that perspective into the game, and at the same time gives players more ways to make Night City their own. For me, that is what a shared universe should feel like. Different stories, different people, different media, but one city that remembers all of them. And I hope players enjoy returning to it.

__________________________

To hear more from Bartosz on Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2, tune into Episode 34 of AnsweRED Podcast. With Executive Producer Saya Elder, he discusses more on the show’s origins, how it connects and compares to the debut Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, and more.