- The game developer behind the acclaimed "Witcher" series has been working on its next major video game: "Cyberpunk 2077."
- At E3 2019, actor Keanu Reeves — who will voice a role in the game — announced "Cyberpunk 2077" would be released April 16, 2020.
- But this Thursday, the studio announced a major delay: The game will now launch on September 17, 2020.
- We've broken down trailers and news around "Cyberpunk 2077" to give you an idea of what to expect from one of the world's most anticipated games.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
The development studio behind the acclaimed "Witcher" series announced "Cyberpunk 2077" all the way back in 2012.
In the years since, it's become one of the world's most highly anticipated games.
At Microsoft's E3 press conference in June 2018, fans finally got a first look at the new game. Then, one year later at another Microsoft E3 press conference, Keanu Reeves showed up to announce that he would play a character in the game — and, more important, that "Cyberpunk 2077" would finally come out in April 2020.
Unfortunately, the game just got hit with a major delay: It's now expected to arrive later this year, on September 17.
Here's what "Cyberpunk 2077" is all about.
In Cyberpunk 2077, you play as V, an urban mercenary and cyberpunk who takes on dangerous jobs for money.
You create your own version of V: You can be male or female, which affects who you can romance in the game. Many characters you'll meet are bisexual, but not all of them are.
You can choose V's backstory, and the reason you're visiting Night City, which is the main area you explore in the game. You can be there for romance, or revenge.
You can also choose your haircut, tattoos, and put points into various attributes like Strength, Constitution, Intelligence, Reflexes, Tech, and something called "Cool."
When you create your character, you're not locking yourself into a single experience. You "customize" your character as you play through the game.
There are three classes in the game — Solo, Techie, and Netrunner.
The Solo class is focused on combat.
Techies are focused on gadgets and machinery.
Netrunners can hack into computers, robots, or even into people's heads to manipulate or kill them.
You can choose to focus on one skill set, or a combination of the three.
"Cyberpunk 2077" is a non-linear role-playing game played from a first-person perspective.
This means you'll be shooting weapons in first-person. Enemies have life bars, and damage numbers pop out of them when you shoot them.
You can approach different encounters in different ways: You can go in guns blazing, talk your way out of a problem, or turn parties against each other.
When you talk with the game's non-playable characters (NPCs), dialogue options will appear on screen, and each choice you make will have consequences.
"Cyberpunk 2077" takes place in Night City.
It's difficult to say how big the city is, but the game's developer CD Projekt Red says it's huge, packed with people, and has no transitional loading screens (like "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" and "God of War").
Unlike the company's last game, "The Witcher 3," which featured a very flat map, "Cyberpunk 2077" is very vertical with buildings that just keep going up.
If you don't like traveling on foot, you can drive vehicles around Night City, including cars and motorcycles.
You can even fight from your car, by leaning out the window and shooting.
You can also run over pedestrians like in "Grand Theft Auto."
There are six districts in Night City, and they all have their own unique vibe. One district featured in the demo was called Watson, based on a fallen corporate giant.
Night City is interactive: You can interact with advertisements, which can tell you where to buy certain products.
Different vendors sell goods and services in exchange for EuroDollars, or "Eddies."
There's a day-and-night cycle in Night City, and an ever-changing weather system.
You'll be spending a lot of time in V's apartment, where you can suit up, check your computer, access your weapons, or even take friends back for some "adult fun."
You can buy additional locations to use as bases through the course of the game.
You can unlock skills in the game and use them to your advantage.
With a high enough engineering skill, for instance, you can disassemble panels in walls to open up new paths.
"Cyberpunk 2077" has an inspection system that lets you learn about objects, lore, and other useful information.
You can use this system to link with a spider-like bot, which can scope out environments, climb walls, pass through vents, and be stored in the trunk of your car when not in use.
By doing things in the real world, you gain Street Cred, which helps you unlock new dialogue or vendor prices throughout the city.
It's likely that some side quests will only be available if you have a certain amount of Street Cred.
V wears a special jacket that plays an important role in the game. It also gives you an initial 5% Street Cred boost.
Combat is a big emphasis in the game: The E3 gameplay demo featured 3 to 4 different guns, all with very different perks for using them.
The demo featured an "epic" weapon called the Smart Rifle, which has bullets that track and follow your targets.
You can use mods to customize all the weapons in the game.
Enemies hiding behind cover? No problem. Your scanner can spot enemies ducking behind barriers, and another gun you can obtain in the game lets you bounce bullets off walls.
If you'd rather use your hands than your weapons, your character is also equipped with twin Mantis Blades, which you can use to climb walls and chop up enemies.
V can also run on walls and jump down onto unsuspecting enemies.
V can also hack into bad guys and send malicious software to the rest of their squad.
In the E3 2018 demo, V plans a virus in a bad guy's weapon to prevent him from shooting when she approaches.
The world isn't fully destructible, but windows and bodies are — so you can blow off arms or legs strategically, assuming you're a good enough shot.
Violence isn't the only mature aspect of Cyberpunk 2077; it also features lots of swearing and full-frontal nudity.
You can hook up with NPCs and have one-night stands with them. You can even visit brothels.
Drugs can also be found and used in the game, and you take them via inhaler-like devices.
Drugs can also be used in social contexts: If a gang member offers you a hit of his inhaler, choosing whether or not to accept could have consequences.
Most quests in "Cyberpunk 2077" come in the form of jobs, which can be acquired in different ways. Sometimes you get them by talking to fixers, who find mercenaries like V to come in and solve problems.
Other times, you'll see things happening on the street and can choose to get involved. CD Projekt Red says it wants missions and quests to feel organic.
"Cyberpunk 2077" will be a single-player game at launch with no multiplayer, although one of the game's designers Patrick Mills says a multiplayer mode is in development and may make it into the game at a later date.
"Cyberpunk 2077" is a single-player game, but not all missions are solo.
This isn't a game with a party system, but you'll occasionally be joined on jobs by other characters in the game.
The game's release date is now set for September 17, 2020, and it's coming to PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Google Stadia.
You can watch the entire 50-minute gameplay video for "Cyberpunk 2077" below. (Warning, there is a good deal of violence, swearing, and nudity here.)
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