Probably one of the most talked about games at this year's E3 is CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077, a role-playing open world dystopian game from the developers behind The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Aside from its mesmerizing visuals and promising gameplay, Cyberpunk 2077 seems to be a game that's also full of thematic elements, one of them being nudity, which the game apparently won't shy away from.
CD Projekt Red has now explained what makes nudity so essential to the core philosophy of Cyberpunk 2077.
Nudity In 'Ceyberpunk 2077'
"Nudity is important for us because of one reason," said game director Adam Badowski in an interview with Polygon. "This is cyberpunk, so people augment their body. So the body is no longer sacrum [sacred]; it's profanum [profane]. Because people modify everything, they are losing their connection to the body, to the meat. And that's why we need to use the nudity in many situations."
"Because where is sacrum and where is profanum in a world when you can simply modify yourself to such limits that it makes you a different kind of person? It's one of the most important themes in cyberpunk, as a genre."
The point was raised in reference to the game's character creation screen, which features a naked body. For demo purposes, however, the naked bits were censored — mostly to keep the audience from making fun of it — but the studio makes clear that in the full game, there'll be no censorship at all.
Aside from character creation, nudity will also play a role in other areas of the game, as it'll come up at times in missions. One example is when titular character V is tasked to rescue a kidnapped woman, who V thinks is being held for ransom. It turns out, however, that the kidnappers end up harvesting her cybernetic parts, and V eventually finds her naked in a bathtub full of ice. Pixelating her naked body would take away the gravity of that situation.
Diverse Relationship Options
Another important theme in Cyberpunk 2077 aside from nudity are diverse relationship options. CD Projekt Red confirms that gamers will be allowed more diversity when it comes to picking a partner, stressing that defining one's character is one of the most important thematic aspects of the game.
"We've got NPCs that are gay, we've got NPCs that are bi, we've got NPCs that are straight, because we want them to feel real and that they have preferences as well," said quest designer Patrick Mills in an interview with Game Informer.
Relationships can also either be long-term or casual, depending on the player's preference.
"We're aiming for big, complicated relationships that continue over the course of the game, but also casual encounters that don't matter that much," said Mills.
Cyberpunk 2077 is currently in development for PC, Playstation 4, and Xbox One. An official launch date hasn't been determined yet.
