In the wake of Netflix’s fantastic Edgerunners anime series and a number of recent patches and updates, the number of people playing Cyberpunk 2077 has skyrocketed.
The game’s official Twitter account posted a heartfelt thank you to all of its fans and enthusiastically announced that over one million people played Cyberpunk 2077 each day this week. And that includes both new and recently returning players.
Each day of this week Night City has been visited by 1 million players, both new and returning.
We wanted to use this opportunity to thank you for being with us and playing the game. Thanks, Chooms! 💛 pic.twitter.com/zqggblztF8— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) September 21, 2022
In fact, Cyberpunk 2077 was one of the best-selling games on Steam last week and has seen the highest levels of concurrent players since its release in December 2020.
Both the Edgerunners anime and the update of the same name have led to a surge in players.
Edgerunners
Part of the reason behind this leap in sales and players is the runaway success of its new Netflix tie-in anime Edgerunners. Created by Studio Trigger, the series takes place within Night City, the same seedy, neon-drenched location the game is set in, and follows a kid named David as he is dragged into a world unlike anything he or the audience have ever seen before. The world of an Edgerunner.
KeenGamer recently praised Edgerunners for its truly amazing animation, worldbuilding, characters, and storytelling. And it seems those who watched the series couldn’t get enough of Night City, as shortly after its release, players began to flock to Cyberpunk 2077 en masse, quickly building to the million concurrent players seen this week.
Phantom Liberty is the long-awaited expansion to Cyberpunk 2077, coming in 2023.
Updates and DLCs
But the anime isn’t alone in drawing back the crowds. CD Project Red hasn’t been idle since their next-gen update back in February brought the game in line with what fans had expected at launch. Another reason players are flooding back is the constant stream of patches and updates the developer has been putting out. In a Night City Wire stream earlier this month, CD Project Red announced the launch of an Edgerunners update, adding a number of interesting new features to the game to tie in with the anime series. These included new weapons, clothing, and vehicles lifted straight from the anime.
The developers also outlined a number of future updates that are sure to have pleased fans and got them curious enough to dip their toes back into the game. These include minor things like the ability to use mirrors, change your character’s face, body and cyberware, and playable arcade cabinets. But they also teased major updates. The first was something fans have been clamouring for since launch, an overhaul to the much-maligned police system, with the promise that Night City’s police force will react more realistically to your crime sprees. The second was a trailer for the game’s first expansion, Phantom Liberty, which promises to add hours of new content and sees the return of fan-favourite Johnny Silverhand.
With these potentially game-changing updates scheduled to release early next year, as well as the tireless effort CD Project Red has been putting in to fix their broken promises, it’s no wonder so many people have started to drift back towards Cyberpunk 2077.
