Night City, the world of Cyberpunk 2077 is sizeable and very dense. While it's not the biggest map, it's chock full of stuff to do. And as with any game this large, there are a lot of little secrets hidden for eagle-eyed players.
From easter eggs to hidden rooms to entire endings, there's a lot to find in the urban jungle. Players have been scouring the game for secret stuff since launch, and here's some of the best stuff that has been found. And of course, Spoilers for Cyberpunk ahead.
Updated November 22, 2023 by Erik Petrovich: Cyberpunk 2077 secrets are about as vast and varied as the districts of Night City, where it seems like every corner hides something for players to discover. Throughout the game, and its DLC Phantom Liberty, secrets can be obvious or hidden far out of the way. For example, while players might not know that the Cyberencabulator is a reference to an obscure fake piece of real-life tech, it's pretty obvious which movie is being referenced when Johnny (played by Keanu Reeves) is offered two pills to choose from. These best Cyberpunk secrets have been updated to include a few new things players may not have discovered, as well as to provide some more details on what makes each of these Cyberpunk hidden items so special.
17 The Cyberencabulator & Real-Life Technobabble
Obscure Reference To The Turbo Encapulator, A Fake Piece Of Tech
Way back in 1944, engineers, who contributed to the Students' Quarterly Journal for the British Institution of Electrical Engineers played a prank. In The December issue of the magazine, a machine called the Turbo Encapulator was described in detail. The thing was, the Turbo Encapulator wasn't real, and used a mix of jargon and made-up technobabble to convincingly describe the fake machine. It used words like "prefabulated aluminite", "panendermic semi-bovoid slots", and other descriptors that ultimately meant and referred to nothing.
In Cyberpunk 2077, players can find the Cyberencapulator during the quest Belly of the Beast. It can be scanned at the top of a staircase, and just like the Turbo Encapulator, this item doesn't actually do anything – but its scan data suggests it successfully averted Sidefumbling, has automatically synced Cardinal Grammeters, and uses Magneto-Reluctance for its power generation.
16 Graffiti Outside Kerry's Mansion
A Metaphor That Could Have Been Silverhand's Work
As part of the quest Holdin' On, players have to find a way into Kerry Eurodyne's villa and convince him to do one more show as Samurai with Johnny. From the fast-travel terminal, If players travel along the wall to the right of the front gate of Kerry Eurodyne's mansion they will eventually come across a bit of graffiti next to a convenient rock overlooking the wall.
It's a crude picture of a man's genitalia, and being such a lovely person, Johnny will appear and loudly exclaim, "Woah! It's, like, symbolic." Without explanation, he disappears – but players ought to have a good idea of the tension between Silverhand and Eurodyne by this point in the quest.
15 Judy's Annoyed Text Message
A Particularly Random Permutation In Judy's Questline
Judy is one of the most popular romance partners in the game, and one aspect of her charm is her fiery personality. One Reddit user decided to "borrow" Judy's white van without asking her first, which was followed by a hilarious response from everyone's favorite braindance expert.
It's nice to see the developers really thought of everything when it comes to the NPCs in Night City. Even through these funny text messages, Judy's personality still shines through as she scolds V for just taking her van without a word.
14 No-Life 3, In Konpeki Plaza
After Years Of Waiting, No-Life 3 Is Finally Here
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Konpeki Plaza is one of the most interesting locations in Night City. The place is quite well fleshed out, but V never gets to actually return here without abusing game mechanics. Thanks to cars and double jumping, however, it's possible to make your way back.
YouTuber CEiS during Act I was able to discover a small secret room accessible through a hole in the ceiling. The room has various loot inside, as well as a review of a game called No Life 3, which is a great reference to the most anticipated game never likely to come: Half-Life 3.
12 The Stray Cat
One Of The Only Lifeforms In Night City That Isn't A Human
During V's adventures in Night City, many shards and TV shows elaborate on the topic of why most animals have left Night City. This is actually one of the most glaring issues in the game: there are no other lifeforms in the city, save for human beings. That is, until V discovers a stray cat, the last form of animal life still left in Night City.
The stray cat can be found outside of V's apartment. Exit the apartment and turn left at the door. Once V reaches a set of garbage bins, a stray cat will appear and a new quest to feet the cat will also start. If V feeds the cat, it can be adopted as a pet and will move into V's apartment.
11 Hideo Kojima's Appearance
Celebrity-Loving Kojima Makes A Cameo Of His Own
Back to Konpeki Plaza, the mysterious big castle in the heart of Night City that only gets visited once during the entire game, but which remains open and isolated after. During Act I when V and Jackie make their way inside, an oddly familiar NPC can be spotted in the lobby.
An NPC called Hideyoshi Oshima is in the lobby and in the process of discussing video games in Japanese. It's a nice little tip of the hat for the Kojima studios known for producing unique, yet emotional games that greatly inspired the developers of Cyberpunk 2077 as well.
10 Game Magazines
CD Project Red Hasn't Forgotten About The Witcher
If you decide to pick the Corpo path, this one is right in front of you. In a drawer in a desk where you start is a game magazine, with a reference to The Witcher printed on it. There's also an image of Ciri's front and center, which is a nod to her dialogue from The Witcher 3.
In a scene where Ciri tells Geralt about all the worlds she's visited, she describes a very Cyberpunk world. Now, while the devs confirmed that Ciri won't be making an appearance in the game, they still kept some cheeky nods in there.
9 DRM Free Forges
A Good Old Games Exclusive Weapon, And A Sneaky Reference
Players who log in to their GOG accounts get a litany of cool stuff. Among all of them is a really cool Katana, called the Black Unicorn. While it is a good weapon by itself, it is also a nod to The Witcher series. The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings and The Witcher 3 feature this sword too, and it is a pretty good weapon in those games too.
There's also a nod to GOG, with a line mentioning 'DRM free forges'. Being DRM-free is a policy that GOG follows for its games, and it's nice to see a nod to it.
8 Vault Disaster
Fallout and Cyberpunk Are A Perfect Match
The Witcher series is not the only RPG that the game references. Way out in the badlands, players can find the bodies of a few people next to a mock-up Fallout vault door. A nearby shard explains that the unfortunately deceased were roleplaying their emergence from 'Bunker 101'.
They were also on a quest to find a hydroprocessor, which is basically the plot of the first Fallout game. Sadly, they were found and killed by the Wraiths. Ah well, they tried.
7 Death Stranding BB Pod
Hideo Kojima Gets A Second Reference
Hideo Kojima is a very respected person in the industry. The game pays homage to him by having him in a bar, talking about his push to revolutionize entertainment in the future. But there's another nod to him. In the mission The Hunt, you break into a clinic to find a braindance record of a serial killer's dreams.
But if you explore a little, you'll find a BB pod in a lab. The BB pod is the companion of Norman Reedus in Death Stranding and is used to detect BTs. If you scan this item, it displays its intended use as the same.
6 The Cake Is A Lie
One Of Delamain's Split Personalities Is Familiarly Condescending
The Delamain quest series lead you to a variety of rogue AIs. And one of the AIs sounds eerily like GlaDOS. GlaDOS is the iconic antagonist of the Portal series, a malicious AI with a biting sharp wit. And here she references 'testing' V many times.
Even mentions that all the cake is gone, because of course there was never any cake.
5 Like Tears In Rain
There Had To Be A Blade Runner Reference, Somewhere
Blade Runner is one of the most influential series in the Cyberpunk genre. The Ridley Scott movie imagined the neon-lit urban jungle that has been the visual influence for all of cyberpunk. And the game pays homage to it in multiple ways.
There's a Batty Hotel that you go to in the main quest series, with an origami animal on the billboard. But, you'll find a hunched over figure holding a bird on top of the Advocet Hotel in Vista Del Ray. This is a homage to the iconic 'Tears in Rain' monologue by Roy Batty in the climax of the movie.
4 Three Seashells
Has Anyone Figured Out The System Yet?
Another movie reference featured prominently are the three seashells in V's bathroom. In the Sylvester Stallone movie, Demolition Man, the eponymous man is frozen in the past and wakes up in the future.
In this future, waste disposal in bathrooms is handled by using three seashells. Hilariously, Stallone never really figures out how to use them. It's a cute reference to another very influential cyberpunk movie, and hilarious to those who recognize it.
3 All I'm Offering Is The Truth
The Consequences Of Silverhand's Little Drunken Rampage
Johnny Silverhand is the most important character in the game. Having him be played by the ever charismatic Keanu Reeves definitely helps. As he begins to take over your mind, there is a part where you play as him going on a rampage in the Afterlife club.
During this rampage, a mysterious figure in sunglasses and a trenchcoat offers you a blue pill and a red pill. This is, of course, a nod to Keanu's role as Neo in The Matrix trilogy. And, if considered canon, raises some serious questions about the world of Cyberpunk.
2 All You Had To Do
Follow The Damn Train, V
Exploring the Red Peaks region of the map will lead you to a train track. If you follow it along, you'll eventually come to a tunnel. Near this tunnel will be two bodies and a smashed up motorcycle.
If you look around, you will find a shard. This shard will reveal the name's of the two dead people, Little Smoke and JC, and a conversation about catching a train. Ah well, if only they followed the damn train, CJ.
1 Ode To The Devs
Johnny Silverhand Plays Over A Montage Of Developers
There is a closed shutter door near the Kabuki roundabout, which needs a code to get in. This code is provided along with a message from CDPR in the physical copy of the game. However, if you don't have one, the code is 605185.
Inside is a room with a big screen and some sofas. If you sit down on a sofa, Johnny whips out a guitar and plays some music while pictures of the developers who worked on the game flash on the screen. It is a nice little nod to the people who made the game possible, and the music is great.
Cyberpunk 2077
- Platform(s)
- PC , Xbox One , Stadia , PS4 , PS5 , Xbox Series S , Xbox Series X
- Released
- December 10, 2020
- Developer(s)
- CD Projekt Red
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
