While most ofCyberpunk 2077’s references to the original TTRPG that it’s based on are fairly obvious, the game also includes some more obscure references toCyberpunklore that isn’t explored much in the game itself. Along withPhantom Liberty, though the game has also snuck in some references to other parts ofCyberpunk’s alt-history setting that most players might not be familiar with.
In adaptingCyberpunkinto a video game,2077makes liberal use of some of the TTRPG’s more recognizable characters, places, and corporate entities, most prominentlyfeaturing Johnny Silverhand, Adam Smasher, and Rogue Amendiares as notable characters. Some of the game’s references to lore from the TTRPG will inevitably fly under the radar of players who are unfamiliar with the widerCyberpunksetting, as is the case for one detail added in thePhantom LibertyDLC.
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Phantom Liberty Gig Reveals An Important Piece Of Cyberpunk Lore
“Spy In The Jungle” Focuses On An Underexplored Part Of The Cyberpunk Setting
In a worldbuilding detail that some players may not have been aware of,thePhantom LibertyDLC makes it clear the USSR still exists in the alt-history setting ofCyberpunk. Players who explore the party in the main quest “You Know My Name” can find a man conspicuously dressed in a Soviet uniform, and a laterPhantom Libertygig, “Spy in the Jungle”, involves a character, Katya Karelina, who is a former agent of SovOil, the largest company - and, effectively the government - of the USSR in theCyberpunksetting.
A small indicator of the USSR’s existence can be found in the base game as well, as a Westbrook-based Ripperdoc named Nina Kraviz is from there, and will make small, easy-to-miss references to it in her dialogue.
As it relates toCyberpunk 2077, SovOil, and by extension the USSR, is much more of a background element, only playing a significant role in the optional “Spy in the Jungle” gig, where the oil company has invested heavily in a trade deal with Brazil - a situation that’s complicated by the death of a Brazilian agent under SovOil interrogation, which the company is trying to cover up.
As part of the quest, the player can indirectly choose to expose the secret, which is presumed to lead to an international conflict between Brazil and the USSR, but the consequences of that choice aren’t seen in-game.
More generally,the USSR has an entire alternate history in the widerCyberpunksetting, having continued to exist well after the point of its real-world dissolution in 1991. As opposed to the real world Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,Cyberpunk’s USSR was reformed into the “Union ofSovereignSoviet Republics”, marking the end of Communism in the nation and turning it into a free-trade zone.
At the same time, consolidation of the USSR’s oil industry led to the formation of Soviet State Oil Industries, or SovOil, which would eventually go on to exert significant control over the USSR government.
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Why Is The Soviet Union Present In The World Of Cyberpunk?
How The USSR Factors Into Cyberpunk’s Worldbuilding
WhileCyberpunkis an alternate history setting now, though, it should be noted thatthis wasn’t the case for the originalCyberpunkTTRPG(AKACyberpunk 2013) which was released in 1988 - before the real-world dissolution of the Soviet Union.
At the time of the setting’s original conception,details like a USSR that continued to exist past 1991 would have been based on the current state of the world at the time, and as theCyberpunkfranchise has continued to endure, that detail has been solidified as part of the game’s canon, rather than retconned or rewritten.
Additionally, as SovOil was one of the factions that received the least focus inCyberpunk 2077, there is a chance that the USSR will receive more focus in the upcoming sequel, currentlycodenamedProject Orion. As2077mainly focused on conflict with and between corporations like Arasaka and Militech, with others like SovOil, Biotechnica, and Petrochem taking on background roles, the sequel might look to switch things up, giving the game’s main story a different focus.
While players might be surprised to learn that the USSR still exists inthe world ofCyberpunk 2077, its continued existence is an important piece of worldbuilding from the original TTRPG, and something of a holdover from the time of the original edition’s release in 1988. While the faction of SovOil, and the USSR in general, aren’t the focus ofCyberpunk 2077as a whole, that may change in the game’s in-development sequel.
