The developers of Cyberpunk 2077 are making it clear: Their game will provide a complex critique of the world and will not shy away from being political. Ubisoft had explicitly distanced itself from this with The Division 2 and Far Cry 5.
This is what CD Projekt says: In an interview with the official Xbox Magazine, quest designer Patrick Mills speaks out.
He says:
Cyberpunk 2077 is a game about people in power at the top and people without power at the bottom. This power can come from money, a hierarchy, technology, and violence.
The original setting of Cyberpunk 2020, as well as that of The Witcher, provides a complex critique of the author’s world. We will not shy away from this in our games. On the contrary: I think it’s one of the things that sets us apart. […] Cyberpunk is a political genre and a political brand in itself.”
Ubisoft is beating around the bush on this topic
Unusual step: Just in recent weeks, the publisher Ubisoft has been noted for explicitly touching on political themes in its titles, but it refuses to admit that there’s something behind it:
- For example, the division of society in the USA is strongly depicted in Far Cry 5, where caricatures of right-wing people and left individuals appear
- And in The Division 2, it involves a “corrupt government” in Washington – journalists saw a parallel to the resistance against Trump
Ubisoft, however, denied in both cases that it was about politics. Later, they admitted that while they are political themes, the games do not make a political statement.
Gap between rich and poor?
What could that mean? CD Projekt Red does not seem to shy away from making statements about politics. It sounds like they are addressing the widening gap between the rich and poor in Cyberpunk.
Cyberpunk often depicts a dystopia where some people live in luxury and enjoy all the advantages of new technology that makes their lives better and more enjoyable – while the lower class lives in complete poverty and cannot even meet basic needs.
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