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Cyberpunk 2077 Is ‘Inherently Political’

Cyberpunk 2077 Is ‘Inherently Political’

The latest issue of Official Xbox Magazine contains an interview with Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red’s Quest Designer, Patrick Mills. The interview is largely about Cyberpunk 2077 of course, with some comparison to the studio’s previous game, The Witcher III . One question in particular hits on the “political themes of social commentary” of Cyberpunk 2077 , something that has been a hot topic of course as of late. In Mills’ view, not only are these sorts of themes present in the game, but the game, series, and genre are “political” by default.

Here’s Mills’ response in full from the magazine:

Cyberpunk 2077 is a game about people with power at the top and people at the bottom with none. That power can come from money, hierarchies, technology and violence.

The original Cyberpunk 2020 setting, like the setting of The Witcher stories, was a complex critique of the author’s world, and we don’t shy away from that In our games. On the contrary! I think it’s one of the things that sets us apart. Of course, to us, mature doesn’t mean just sex and violence. We will try to engage you on multiple levels, not just the visceral, but also the intellectual. Cyberpunk is an inherently political genre and it’s an inherently political franchise.

It’s a place that is very critical of the world in which we live, in interesting and complex ways and we hope we can get that across. Cyberpunk 2077 is about a world where a vanishingly small number of ultra-rich individuals at the top of intractable corporate power structures reign over a disintegrating world where the vast majority of the population lives in an endless cycle of poverty and violence. How different that is from our world depends a lot on your perspective, I suppose.

It’s hard to disagree! Even going back to old novels in the Cyberpunk space, the setting has always been about extreme divides between upper and lower class. There’s no reason Cyberpunk 2077 would avoid those themes, especially as a video game.

Source: WCCF Tech

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