The launch of Cyberpunk 2077 has been well documented, quickly going from a game that was highly anticipated to one widely criticized. Ultimately, the cost to fix the myriad of issues and problems was steep as CD Projekt RED had to completely alter its original post launch content plans for Cyberpunk 2077 in order to focus on the game's health. The decision proved to be the correct one as the game is now in a much better state than it was at launch. Still, fans wondered what was next for the title once the majority of the issues had been ironed out.
While content like a Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer mode was seemingly shelved to allow the studio to devote more time to fixing the single-player game, the promise of larger DLC continued to persist, even after multiple internal delays to the Cyberpunk 2077 post-launch roadmap. Recent teases finally gave way to an official reveal of an expansion called Phantom Liberty, which is set to release sometime in 2023.
While CDPR hasn't revealed a ton of information about the Phantom Liberty expansion, the short teaser trailer features V reciting an oath of allegiance to the New United States of America. However, things take an interesting turn when a returning Johnny Silverhand, again brought to life by Keanu Reeves, expresses his concern over the whole thing. While the return of Silverhand will no doubt please many fans, his addition does tend to potentially complicate things with regard to the game's main storyline and various endings.
Spoilers for the endings of Cyberpunk 2077 ahead!
V's Imminent Death in Cyberpunk 2077
During the events of Act 1, players work with Jackie Welles to obtain a highly sought after item known as The Relic. Naturally, things don't go according to plan for the duo, and they have to improvise an escape from the highly secured Arasaka Tower. During the escape, the Relic is damaged and V takes it upon themselves to insert the chip into their head in order to prevent the item from being destroyed. Unfortunately for them, this Relic is actually a biochip housing the digitized human psyche of Johnny Silverhand. Worse yet, the biochip is now slowly overwriting V's brain where they'll eventually die with Johnny taking full control. At this point, the theme of Cyberpunk 2077 shifts from V's attempt to become a Night City Legend to a race to find a way to simply survive their rapidly approaching fate.
As with most big RPG style games, Cyberpunk 2077 has multiple endings for players to discover, even though none really offer V a true happy ending. In this case, they either become an Arasaka lab rat, choose to live with the limited time they have left, or die to let Silverhand take over fully. With the expansion's announcement, the question of its timeline has now become a major talking point for fans. Depending on the ending received, V does have a few months left to live before their body eventually falls apart, so it's possible that CDPR could somehow position this new content to take place within those six months.
Phantom Liberty Needs To Address V's Lack of Time To Live
What doesn't add up in this newest Cyberpunk 2077 trailer is that Johnny Silverhand appears to still be active within V. This would likely indicate that the Phantom Liberty expansion isn't post-story content and instead happens sometime before the final mission where V uses Mikoshi at Arasaka Tower to fully separate from Silverhand. Prior to that point, V's condition is worsening very quickly as they get more and more desperate to find a cure, so it would be jarring from a narrative perspective for V to suddenly change course and join up with a new faction when they're primary concern to this point has been to survive.
On one hand, it's possible that this new faction has "promised" a solution to V's condition by leveraging them to officially join and follow orders. There's likely a reason why V has chosen this route, maybe to gain access to some high-powered tech or perhaps to use this as a way to get to something else that could prove beneficial. Whatever the case may be, it's likely that CDPR has found a way to work this story into the game's main narrative, especially if it does take place before the final mission.
With the expansion set to launch sometime in 2023, there's plenty of time for CD Projekt RED to reveal more information on what fans can expect with Phantom Liberty. For now, the teaser trailer has seemingly done its job, getting people to talk about Cyberpunk 2077 again and reigniting some excitement in a game that had a very rough go. In the meantime, CDPR has plenty more on the way, including a just released update that links the game to the upcoming Netflix anime Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners.
Cyberpunk 2077 is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
