Highlights

  • The Gamescom Opening Night Live showcased Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty DLC, revealing gameplay improvements and tweaks coming in September.
  • CD Projekt Red announced that the new gameplay features will also be included in the base game as part of the 2.0 Update, available for free on September 26.
  • The 2.0 Update will bring significant adjustments to Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay, including a redesigned perk and Cyberware system, new abilities, vehicle combat, and over 100 new items.

The Gamescom Opening Night Live showcase may not have been the most thrilling gaming event of the year, but it still had plenty of announcements and updates to keep fans of all genres happy. By far one of the biggest reveals of the entire Gamescom showcase was Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty DLC, which gave fans their first proper look at the gameplay improvements and tweaks that are coming with the expansion in September.

But while the trailer itself was incredibly exciting, hype levels reached a new height when CD Projekt Red took to the Gamescom stage to announce that the vast majority of these new gameplay features would also be coming to Cyberpunk 2077's base game, at least for those on current-gen consoles and PC. Named the 2.0 Update, this Cyberpunk 2077 patch is set to overhaul a slew of gameplay mechanics, ranging from skill trees to vehicle combat to enemy AI, and it's all coming to the game for free on September 26.

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Everything Included in Cyberpunk 2077's 2.0 Update

Cyberpunk 2077 Gamescom 2023 trailer police barricade screenshot

Coming right alongside the Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion on September 26, Update 2.0 will drastically change the current Cyberpunk gameplay experience for the better. One of the biggest overhauls coming in the 2.0 Update is the redesigned perk and Cyberware system. The most recent Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty trailer showcased some of the new perks coming with Update 2.0, and they all look suitably impressive. There's a perk that allows players to deflect bullets with a sword, a slow-mo air dash, deadeye, and a handful of new finishers.

Cyberpunk 2077's 2.0 Update is also adding a Relic skill tree, and the trailer showed off a few of these new abilities as well. There's a Limiter Removal Relic, which seemingly allows players to launch foes into the air with their bare fists, a Spatial Mapping Relic that points out enemies and allows players to dash quickly towards them, and a Launch Capacity Override, which lets players fire multiple wrist-launcher grenades in quick succession.

Another major gameplay addition presumably included in Update 2.0 is vehicle combat. Originally, Cyberpunk 2077 had no form of vehicle combat at all, but with Update 2.0, players will finally be able to engage enemies while driving, and in quite a few different ways. Players will be able to pop their head out the window and fire off a few rounds from a pistol, spin their car around while firing out machine guns like in 007: No Time to Die, and even hack enemy vehicles, causing them to suddenly accelerate, brake, or even self-destruct. This system goes hand-in-hand with Cyberpunk 2077's revamped police AI system, which sees the game's cops behave much more realistically.

Cyberpunk 2077's 2.0 Update will also come with over 100 new items, ranging from new weapons, to new pieces of clothing, to new Cyberware, to new vehicles. While it hasn't been specifically stated just how much of this is coming to the base game as part of Update 2.0, it seems likely that everything mentioned here will be available as part of the free update. However, features like the "dozens of new story quests and gigs," a "dangerous new district," and maybe even the "endless dynamic events and missions" are more likely to be locked behind the Phantom Liberty expansion. While CD Projekt Red has already done quite a bit to save Cyberpunk 2077, Update 2.0 finally seems like the monumental push forward that many fans have been waiting for, and the fact it's only a month out now is very exciting.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty launches September 26 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

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