We here at CD PROJEKT RED are so excited for the launch of the Edgerunners Update — and with our first-ever anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners coming hot on its heels (September 13th!), we thought this would be the perfect time to share some additional insights about what the two releases have in common. Trust me, it’s more than just the name.
In Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, we first meet David Martinez when he’s just a down-on-his-luck street kid peddling black market braindances (XBDs) to help him and his mother Gloria get by. Her bright yellow jacket — which is passed down to David — becomes a visual cornerstone of the anime, so it’s no surprise that we chose to include it in the latest update.
Franchise & Lore Designer Patrick Mills, who worked on selecting the items that would make it from the anime into Cyberpunk 2007, agrees:
“David’s jacket was an obvious choice, as it’s an iconic element of the anime that has a lot of meaning to it. We’re excited for people to pick up the item in-game and feel connected to the story of the anime in a tactile way. For people who haven’t seen the anime, I hope they enjoy it as a cool new jacket to wear around town and pose with in Photo Mode, but for people who watch the anime and know the backstory, it’s my hope that it’s another bridge between the world of the show and the world of the game.”
This Legendary level item becomes an even greater catch thanks to the introduction of the Wardrobe, our transmog system. Dropping a piece of stylish gear for something with better armor always hurts, but now players can dress for the dark future without sacrificing their builds.
The jacket isn’t the only thing left lying around after David’s explosive and bloody time in Night City. Players can also discover a new weapon — a shotgun named “Guts” that packs a powerful real-world punch thanks to DualSense’s Adaptive Triggers functionality introduced in the previous next-gen update. Combining the two worlds in a thoughtful and organic way, from the item descriptions to the dialogue, was at the forefront of our minds as we planned this update.
Writer Rafał Babraj was clear about his approach from the beginning:
“We wanted to embed the characters and story from the anime in our game as immersively as possible, and I think we found a cool narrative way of doing that. But we also wanted to make it a bit mysterious, teasing just enough of the anime to ignite the curiosity of players and push them to discover what happened to David and his crew in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. We took into consideration the personalities of the anime characters and tried to reflect that in the way they communicate in-game, or in the descriptions of the items that belonged to them.”
Babraj also teased that, “These may be two different stories, but V and David actually have a lot in common — what exactly that is, players and viewers will have to discover for themselves!”
Players can also expect a brand-new quest, one that leads to David’s jacket and ties the two worlds together properly. Quest Director Paweł Sasko worked with his team to make sure that the game and anime fit together:
“Cyberpunk 2077 and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners share the same, fascinating, dystopian world, but there are obvious differences in the graphic style of the two, so we had to come up with exciting and logical solutions on how to tie them t