CD Projekt Red has already announced that it is removing traditional gender options from the Cyberpunk 2077 character creator, which is quite progressive. Now, at the 2019 Tokyo Game Show, the developer has gone into more detail about how gender customization works in the game.
In an interview with Video Games Chronicle, level designer Max Pears explained a bit more about how Cyberpunk 2077 handles gender customization and romance. Pears stated that players would be free to choose different gender voices and body types, echoing what senior concept artist Marthe Jonkers stated last month. However, Pears did mention that one thing specific thing will be affected by the player’s choice of the latter — their genitalia.
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Yes, Pears confirmed that Cyberpunk 2077 will feature fully-nude sex scenes. However, to be able to have this, the player character’s genitalia will be determined by the body type they choose. “We have the body type that you select and then the genitals will be determined by that,” explained Peas. “You can have a male or female voice with either body, but the genitals are defined by the body.”
“We really want to make sure players get the representation that they want,” mentioned Pears. “In the genre of cyberpunk as well, it asks such deep questions about what it means to be human, let alone what it means to define your gender.” He went on stating that “having that customization match how you feel is your representation of how you feel… it’s important for us and it’s important to the lore of this world too.”
Aside from this, Pears goes on further about how the studio is attempting to make the game more inclusive. He mentioned that one of the ways that CD Projekt Red is doing this is by having NPCs simply refer to the player character by their name, V, doing away with any gendered pronouns or descriptors.
“One of the things we’ve done to make sure the game addresses things a certain way is a lot of the time NPCs are just going to refer to you as ‘V,’ because you won’t be able to choose your name. That way it helps people know that it’s their character that’s being spoken to and also however you’ve envisioned your V, that’s still your V. That’s been our focus: your version of V is your version as the player and that’s how you will be addressed in the game.”
Part of letting the players play their version of V is providing them with varied romance options. CD Projekt Red has confirmed that Cyberpunk 2077 will feature more than just heterosexual romances. This is a step up from what its previous games in The Witcher series had. As those where based on the books of the same name by Andrzej Sapkowski, the studio chose to keep lead character Geralt of Rivia’s sexual preferences and romance options the same as in their original source material.
Cyberpunk 2077 has no such restrictions however, being based on a tabletop game where creating a character is the now. As such it seems that CD Projekt Red is going into overboard with the game’s character creation and romance options, as if to make up for what it couldn’t do with The Witcher.
Despite the expanded romance options however, the one character that many fans may be hoping to romance may sadly not be an option for such. Johnny Silverhand, played by the breathtaking Keanu Reeves, has sadly been confirmed as not being a romance options. “Keanu plays a crucial role in the game,” stated Pears. “But as for the option to romance him, I don’t believe you can.”
