The Cyberpunk 2077 update offers new ways to express yourself

A surprise awaits you Cyberpunk 2077 Players Today – the freshly released Update 2.2, introducing many community-requested features – and more! The result of a close collaboration with Studio Virtuos, this update takes Express Yourself to a whole new level. To talk more about the update, CD Projekt Red Deputy Game Director Paweł Sasko and Virtuos Senior Producer Pauline Debroux stopped by to provide some behind-the-scenes insights into how we brought this update to life.

“The world of Cyberpunk 2077 is fascinating, rich and varied – and there is still so much room to create rewarding and inspiring content and features for our players,” said Sasko. “When I look at our audience, I see that there is nothing more exciting for players than the opportunity to express themselves in the game – through a unique looking V, through their vehicles or even through their art in the form of in-game photography. ”

Let’s dive into the features he mentioned!

Advanced photo mode

We've hosted several Photo Mode competitions in the past and always love seeing what unique shots the community takes – so it seemed like a no-brainer to add even more features! This particular addition was a close collaboration with our community. “Our community team collected feedback from virtual photographers who know our game very well, and from the list of requests provided, we created a roadmap of features and implemented most of them,” said Sasko. “The most requested changes have been added to the game, and the interface has been reworked and updated.”

The Cyberpunk 2077 The community was instrumental in creating the initial list, and later on, says Debroux: “As feature work reached beta, we shared the Update 2.2 build with a small team of virtual photographers and collected their feedback . “We knew that no one else could provide such precise insight into whether we were on the right track.”

Not to mention, the photos you take can now be hung in any of V's homes. Each of V's apartments is now equipped with a new product from Kiroshi – the SmartFrames, which allow you to display digital art. Whether picturesque panoramas, street photography or couple photos before your partner visits, everything is possible!

New character customization options

Style is more important than substance in Night City, meaning you'll never have too many options to customize your V. When adding new character customization features, it was important to us to give more freedom when roleplaying.

“We wanted to give our players the opportunity to make V look like a member of a gang or corporation or develop a specific backstory for their character,” said Debroux! This served as inspiration for adding a gunshot scar in the middle of the forehead, scars that look like burns, or remnants of a serious accident.”

Sasko added: “With Update 2.2 you can create a fairly modern-looking character with tasteful facial makeup and lipstick, or instead cover yourself in logos and brands like a walking billboard – you can transform yourself into a commodity in this dystopian world. “ if that’s your V’s unique backstory.”

In addition to new cosmetic cyberware and tattoos, we've introduced a new random generator that gives you even more granular control over character creation! “We found that this method is not only much faster, but also a more engaging and enjoyable way to create a character. As a player, you can lock down each feature and randomly select the ones you want to iterate over and over again until your V looks exactly how you want it,” explains Sasko.

Auto adjustment

You can't express yourself properly without adding some personality to your vehicle! In Cyberpunk 2077We previously added CrystalCoat technology to Rayfield vehicles, giving players the ability to change their paint schemes and headlight colors. But we wanted to go even bigger: “When I improve our game with a new feature, I always try to look at the bigger picture and make sure it fits the larger gameplay cycle and theme of the game and complements existing lore.” Sasko said. “We had already developed CrystalCoat technology for Rayfield and when creating Update 2.2 we agreed that this luxury brand should collaborate with other labels that produce and sell high-end cars. Now all your Herrera, Mizutani, Quadra and Villefort vehicles can receive custom paint jobs!”

Debroux added: “We didn’t stop there. An all-new addition is TwinTone, a feature recently introduced by Kiroshi that expands V's database – allowing players to scan and save visual profiles of the vehicles. When you pass a flashy vehicle in Night City, you can save its color scheme. If it is a generic vehicle, you can use it for any car. If it is unique, you can apply it to the corresponding car model. Together, CrystalCoat and TwinTone work together to add an additional layer to an already very rich game.”

We're excited to have worked with Virtuos to bring players new features – and some surprises, so keep your eyes peeled!

“We knew exactly how special this opportunity was,” Debroux said. “We worked closely with CD Projekt Red to design each feature, giving it a new perspective wherever possible while staying true to the identity Cyberpunk 2077. Each function and asset evolved over the course of the collaboration until we were all satisfied with both the quality and quantity. Working together has been a fantastic experience and we can’t wait to see how players use the new features we’re putting in their hands.”

Update 2.2 for Cyberpunk 2077 is out today for Xbox Series