What Cyberpunk 2020 can teach us about Cyberpunk 2077

The most important thing in the Cyberpunk 2020 manual is the thoughtful explanation why the technical future allows people to stay mobile:

The point is, a computer society makes it easy for people to live like campers all the time. Why should you have to go home to listen to your favorite music when you can carry your CD player with you?

Cyberpunk 2020, released in 1990, is the tabletop game inspiration for Cyberpunk 2077. With the new info about Keanu Reeves playing Johnny Silverhand, I decided to go back and read through the entire manual to find all the things that might show up in the final game by CD Projekt Red.

I also mentioned all the bits that I want them to include in the final game, like the Kennedys, a gang where each of the members had plastic surgery to look like John F. Kennedy. I mocked up an image to show how terrifying that would be:

Source images: Wikimedia Commons, Getty Images | Illustration: Brian Gilbert/Polygon

If you enjoyed this, check out the rest of our videos on YouTube! We’re digging into all the new games and of course, the mere concept of E3 itself. To see new gameplay out of E3, check out Polygon Guides. Don’t forget to subscribe!