We at CD PROJEKT RED are very excited about the release of the Edgerunners update – with our first anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners on the heels (September 13th!), we thought it would be a place to share some extra content Perfect timing for insights on what these two versions have in common. Trust me, it’s not just the name.
In Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, we first meet David Martinez when he’s just a hapless street kid peddling black market brains (XBDs) to help him and his mother Gloria get through. Her bright yellow jacket – passed on to David – became a visual cornerstone of the animation, so it’s no surprise we chose to include it in the latest update.
Franchise & Lore designer Patrick Mills, who worked on selecting items from anime to make into Cyberpunk 2007, agrees:
“David’s jacket was an obvious choice because it’s an iconic element of the anime and has a lot of meaning to it. We’re excited for people to be able to pick up items in the game and feel a tactile connection to the anime’s story .. for people who haven’t seen the anime, I hope they like it as a cool new jacket to wear around town and pose in photo mode, but for people who watch the anime and know the backstory, I hope it’s another A bridge between the world of performance and the world of play.”
This legendary item has become even more compelling thanks to the introduction of our transmog system wardrobe. Giving up a stylish piece of gear for better armor is always a pain, but now players can dress for a dark future without sacrificing their size.
The jacket wasn’t the only thing left after David’s bloody outburst in Night City. Players can also discover a new weapon – a shotgun called “Guts” that packs a powerful real-world punch thanks to DualSense’s adaptive trigger feature introduced in previous next-gen updates. Combining the two worlds in a thoughtful and organic way, from item descriptions to conversations, was our top priority as we planned this update.
Writer Rafał Babraj was clear about his method from the start:
“We wanted to immerse the characters and stories from the anime into our game as much as possible, and I think we found a cool way to do that with the narrative. But we also wanted to make it a little bit mysterious, teasing The animation is enough to spark the player’s curiosity and prompt them to discover what’s going on with David and his crew in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. We took into account the personalities of the anime characters and tried to figure out how they communicate or belong in the game This is reflected in the descriptions of their items.”
Babraj also joked: “It may be two different stories, but V and David actually have a lot in common – what is it, players and viewers must find out for themselves!”
Players can also look forward to an all-new quest, one that leads to David’s jacket and properly connects the two worlds. Quest Director Paweł Sasko works with his team to ensure that the game and anime blend perfectly:
“Cyberpunk 2077 and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners share the same fascinating dystopian world, but there are distinct differences in graphic styles, so we had to come up with exciting and logical solutions to tie them together I asked expert quest designer Danisz Markiewicz to look at animation and pitch narrative solutions that would build on the story told in Edgerunners and connect it well to the game. He proposed going the smart route, actually Above is using clips from animations in games! I love this solution and we started exploring options on how to implement it. Thanks to a few other developers, our partners at Netflix, and the extra creativity, we made it a reality The brain dance itself contains two little secrets that I’d love to read online when our players discover it.”
In creating the connection between the two stories, the process is not just a one-way street, but an organic and collaborative one. In Sasco’s words:
“Studio Trigger has done an excellent job of recreating the real Night City in the animation, and players familiar with the game can easily identify where key events are taking place. I find it fascinating that at first Trigger was inspired by the game, and then when we set out to play in the game We were inspired by their extraordinary work as Edgerunners enriched the game in their update. That’s why the brain dances, gear and all the other little things laid out throughout the mission are so closely tied to the Cyberpunk storyline: Edgerunners are very deliberate and Intentionally. This mission is to express our gratitude to fans of the Cyberpunk 2077 and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime.”
The anime-related content we’ve highlighted here is just the tip of the iceberg of Edgerunners’ updates. There’s even more for gamers, like a playable Roach Race mini-game, extra weapons, quests, and the ability to pose as Nibbles in photo mode. For a full list of features, visit the website – and learn more about animations here. Or better yet, get into the game and check everything out for yourself!
Cyberpunk 2077 is available through the PlayStation Store for PS4 and PS5 for $49.99.
