This is how CD Projekt RED (CDPR) may be laying the groundwork for the officially announced sequel, which will be developed by the company’s US studio…

Let’s start by saying that the following topic contains quite a few spoilers, so if you haven’t played through Cyberpunk 2077 or its only current-gen-only add-on, Phantom Liberty, then don’t read any further after this paragraph.

So there are at least two scenes that hint at the Blackwall. This is the barrier between the normal Internet and the cyberspace dominated by advanced artificial intelligence. The first dialog is with Anders Hellman, after the critical part of the Panam story thread. We can tell the architect about Arasaka’s relic containing Johnny Silverhand. The reaction is a bit unusual, but a pleasure to see. The second dialog is based on the Blackwall connection, which could have a big impact on the Cyberpunk backstory, as well as the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 (currently codenamed Project Orion).

During the Mikoshi attack that opens the endgame of Cyberpunk 2077, Alt Cunningham, the hacker-turned-AI character, mentions the AI found in Phantom Liberty to the protagonist V when he asks this question: “You have encountered beings from the other side, haven’t you? If they were to collide with your reality, their infinite permutability would grant them their desired, tangible form. Fortunately, the technology of your reality is too rudimentary to open the floodgates. By limiting you, it limits them, keeps them at bay. But this will not last. You will hasten this change, for you have something that belongs to them. A deadly weapon for you. A back door to the future for them”.

This speech strongly suggests that unconquered cyberspace could become some sort of H.P. Lovecraftian other dimension, and the Voodoo Boys gang are preparing for something like this in their quest, so the base game already hinted at it. There’s also Delamain, the AI who runs a taxi company, and may have branched off from there to observe humanity through his vehicles. There’s even a small reference between the base game and the add-on: Grimes’ cyberpunk alter ego, Lizzy Wizzy, will comment on her Phantom Liberty concert when her Violence mission is completed after playing the expansion.

So the future is bleak.

Source: PCGamer