Cyberpunk 2077 promises to be an inclusive game, with the character creation playing a substantial part in this objective. CD Projekt has revealed more about who you will get to be, or in fact, how the player-controlled protagonist V is going to look like.
Speaking to Metro during Gamescom 2019, Cyberpunk 2077’s senior concept artist Marthe Jonkers touched upon many important subjects, one of them being the in-game portrayal of gender and trans issues.
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CD Projekt’s approach to these issues led to many heated debates, with questionable tweets and a particularly controversial poster. This image advertising a drink called ChroManticore featured a female figure, but upon closer inspection, it was obvious that there was something more to it. The slogan invited people to “mix it up,” something that seems to be a trend in Cyberpunk 2077’s dystopian future, where megacorporations push for body modifications.
The new character creation menu mirrors these ideas, breaking boundaries and going for a risky approach that is likely to stir much controversy. The new system offers much more when compared to the previous one, with the highlight being the removal of gender selection.
“You don’t choose your gender anymore. You don’t choose, ‘I want to be a female or male character’ you now choose a body type,” Jonkers says. “Because we want you to feel free to create any character you want. So you choose your body type and we have two voices, one that’s male sounding, one is female sounding. You can mix and match.”
Mix and match; just like the controversial poster mentioned above. But you can go further and customize your character with many extra layers, through different skin tones, tattoos, and hairstyles.
Jonkers says that it’s all about giving players the freedom to create whoever they want to be, and to play the way they want to play. In a world as dangerous and diverse as Night City, this ends up making complete sense.
