CD Projekt Red held a third episode of Night City Wire, its dedicated Cyberpunk 2077 news stream today, and it was kind of loaded, to say the least.
The show opened with a new trailer spotlighting the setting of Night City. The trailer showcases the wide spectrum of tone in its various districts.
Next up was where things got messy. The second trailer was an introduction to the game’s various factions, specifically gangs that make up Night City’s cannon fodder. From the more chaotic Maelstrom to the partying 6th Street, you’ll run into one of several gangs who occupy the city, whether that be on the business end of your gun, or collaborating on jobs. As your player character is a merc, they won’t be able to join any of the gangs, so this isn’t a case of joining a group that will influence your playthrough in a way.
However, Cyberpunk 2077 has already garnered criticism for its depiction of racial stereotypes, and seeing some of them just lined up in one trailer as enemy factions was just a lot to take in at once. We’ve established with games like The Last of Us Part II earlier this year that marketing can betray substance of a final product, but the optics on this trailer in particular were shit, and there’s not really been anything in Cyberpunk 2077’s marketing that gives me much reason to think these gangs are going to be anything less than offensive stereotypes. The game has already made a lot people wary with its handling of sexualized trans bodies and charged imagery of violence against sex workers, so Cyberpunk 2077 is not doing itself any favors by lining up racial stereotypes side-by-side in a nearly five-minute trailer.
WHY DO PEOPLE HAVE TO PICK #HispanicHeritageMonth TO SHOW OFF THEIR GO TO LATINX STEREOTYPE. And of course they "follow god." #Cyberpunk2077 pic.twitter.com/dEhCaMTlIs
— Janet @ #TrekToShrek, MN ???? (@Gameonysus) September 18, 2020
Like…. Tyger Claws?? That sounds like an off brand White Claw flavor title
the fuck man
someone in chat called me sensitive for calling stereotyping out and I was like… bruh. Look at this. It's like a mashup of the Asian cultures and not properly recognizing a single one… https://t.co/Wb7jcqp98G pic.twitter.com/8xNYTsNOEG
— Stella @ gamescom (@ParallaxStella) September 18, 2020
These are the sort of designs I was worried would be spread throughout 2077. Much of it feels rooted in stereotype and disrespectful of the culture it could explore in an interesting way. It still might, but visually and the language we've seen from characters worries me. https://t.co/Z9dX5B1vn4
— Jade King (@KonaYMA6) September 18, 2020
In other news:
- Ubisoft: Michel Ancel’s Departure Won’t Affect Beyond Good & Evil 2
- The PlayStation 5 is Sold Out Everywhere the Day Before It Goes On Sale
- Fall Guys Silently Rolled Out Cheat Detection to Put Cheaters on a Different Server
CD Projekt Red closed out the show by announcing the game’s PC specs, including minimum and recommended builds:
After several delays (which CD Projekt Red assures won’t happen again), Cyberpunk 2077 is coming to PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on November 19. While that will be after the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 launch, the game won’t be coming to either system until sometime in 2021. However, whenever it does make its way to the next generation, you’ll be able to upgrade to the next-gen version at no additional cost. The same is happening for CD Projekt Red’s other major RPG of the last generation, as the company recently announced that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is getting a similar upgrade deal sometime in 2021, as well.
Beyond Cyberpunk 2077 and porting The Witcher 3, CD Projekt Red recently signed a new deal with Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski to make more games and content within the franchise’s universe. Which means that fans of Geralt, or at least the world he exists in, can probably expect a fourth Witcher game announcement in the coming years. In the meantime, there’s always Netflix’s Witcher show starring good PC builder Henry Cavill, right?
