Lauren spends most of her time lifeless in League of Legends, or equally as lifeless in Valorant. Do not ask her about Vampire: The Masquerade.
Printed: July 31, 2026
Cyberpunk 2077 is the very definition of successful story. It is no secret that its launch wasn’t nice; bugs have been popping up left, proper, and middle, and extremely anticipated options just like the Metro have been nowhere in sight. Within the 12 months of our Lord 2026, that may spell catastrophe: blinking crimson SteamDB numbers, cries of ‘ha ha lifeless sport.’ But Cyberpunk 2077 – and CDPR by proxy – endured.
The Cyberpunk redemption arc is exclusive: most single-player video games come and go inside a few weeks, however individuals – myself included – wished Cyberpunk to be what it was purported to be. It is gone on to etch itself into the general public consciousness as a sport that merely required some further time; a diamond within the tough that turned The Hope Diamond. Time is a (phantom) liberty that is afforded to so few videogames lately, however Cyberpunk 2077 proves that it could possibly make all of the distinction.
Coming into 2026, nevertheless, Cyberpunk 2077 is successfully a accomplished product. Positive, CDPR drops the odd replace out of the blue, however all in all, V’s adventures in Evening Metropolis are over – for now, at the least. All eyes are on the franchise’s subsequent installment; on Edgerunners Season 2 and the shiny new TCG. As we glance to the way forward for one of many best tales ever advised, I caught up with Lead Quest Designer Sarah Gruemmer to reminisce on the sequence’ dystopian previous. The first query? Why do you have to play Cyberpunk 2077 in 2026?
With the sport being feature-complete, I requested Greummer if she’s pleased with the ultimate state of the sport and if there’s something she’d have added. “By no means ask a designer this query!” she responds, jokingly. “There’s all the time one thing so as to add, is not there? Given infinite time and probability, I am optimistic I will all the time be capable of consider one thing I would love to incorporate. Taking a look at what the sport is true now, although, I actually love all of the enhancements we made and the way a lot they’ve added to the expertise. I feel it is in a really good place and anybody who picks it up now can have a extremely implausible time.”
After I ask if there’s something she’d wish to implement within the subsequent sport, she would not go into specifics, however notes that “while you design and work on one thing, you are all the time fascinated about what may be accomplished subsequent, what may we do extra, these sorts of issues. It simply comes as a pure a part of the creation course of. However how that every one finally ends up coming collectively would not take form immediately. So, we’ll see!” No sneaky insights into what to anticipate with Cyberpunk 2, sorry, however you may’t blame a lady for making an attempt.
Evening Metropolis is extra beautiful and immersive than ever.
Sarah Greummer, Lead Quest Designer
This begs the query, then: why ought to gamers choose up Cyberpunk in 2026? The explanations are seemingly limitless: the world, the branching narrative, Phantom Liberty, Idris Elba and Keanu Reeves. I ask Greummer for her ideas; a loaded query.
“[There are] many, many causes,” she muses. “Evening Metropolis is extra beautiful and immersive than ever, and there are lots of locations you may play it now, too, due to all of the assist we give to the sport.
“Then, the story, characters, and environment of the sport are all nonetheless related, and I feel will probably be for some time. So for anybody who desires to get misplaced in an open world that provides a ton of participant selection by way of playstyle and – six years after launch – nonetheless has tales to find, you are going to discover one thing in there for you.”
It is one thing I would agree with. Having initially bounced off of Cyberpunk because of the sheer scale of its content material, I revisited it on the tail finish of 2025, and once more in 2026. Phantom Liberty stays probably the greatest items of videogame DLC that I’ve ever performed, and in some methods I’ve discovered myself preferring it to the bottom expertise. If Cyberpunk 2077 itself is a ten, Phantom Liberty is an eleven.
As a tabletop savant and avid roleplayer, nevertheless, the actual standout for me is simply how effectively CDPR interprets Mike Pondsmith’s vicious, dog-eat-dog world right into a digital expertise. Evening Metropolis feels lived in; its characters aren’t all the time likable – regardless of their bodily inhumanity, they’re so very human. As a story expertise, Cyberpunk is difficult to beat; it deserves its place amid titans like GTA, Fallout, and even CDPR’s personal The Witcher. It is a seminal a part of videogame historical past, even when it took a while to get there.
“It makes me wildly completely happy and proud that gamers have related with the gameplay a lot, particularly figuring out how many individuals caught with the sport after launch and noticed it evolve over time,” Greummer says. “They noticed the potential and saved coming again for extra; I am actually grateful they did.”
Cyberpunk, then, is the success story. In a world the place videogames do not get second probabilities, Cyberpunk proves that redemption is feasible. It reveals that group love and keenness can get issues accomplished; that when a developer listens and works tirelessly to ship an expertise, individuals reply positively to it. Cyberpunk is a neon beacon in a cruel world; a reminder that you are able to do it for those who attempt.
