Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is canon to the events of the game Cyberpunk 2077 and even features characters that appear in the CD Projekt Red release. It takes place a year before the events of Cyberpunk 2077.
Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world video game that was developed by CD Projekt Red and based on the fictional universe created by Mike Pondsmith. The game is set in 2077 and has a spin-off anime Netflix series named Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, which is set approximately a year before the game. The series takes place in the fictional Night City and was created by Rafa Jaki and Studio Trigger with the supervision of CD Projekt.
What is Cyberpunk: Edgerunners?
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is an anime show created by Rafa Jaki and Studio Trigger for Netflix, directed by Hiromi Wakabayashi and Hiroyuki Imaishi. It takes place in Mike Pondsmith's dystopian Cyberpunk universe and exists within its own fictional timeline. Edgerunners is also set in the updated universe of Cyberpunk 2077, a video game developed by CD Projekt Red that has played a significant role in modernizing its popularity.
It tells the story of David Martinez, a talented but impetuous street kid who loses everything he ever loved in a drive-by shooting. Martinez decides to live as an edgerunner, a mercenary on the wrong side of the law known as a cyberpunk, after the situation is exacerbated by other incidents following the tragedy. His ten-episode journey through Night City is far from easy and full of twists as he tries to survive in a dystopian city filled with crime, manipulation, and cybernetic implants.
Is Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Canon?
While Cyberpunk 2077 is far from the perfect video game, it has still become one of the most successful and popular games released over the last few years. Not only that, Mike Pondsmith’s universe has grown over the years going from just a table-top RPG to a popular video game with a Netflix anime series as well.
Yet while there are similarities between Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Cyberpunk 2077, the question has been asked as to whether the former is canon. The answer to that is yes as Edgerunners takes place a year before the events of Cyberpunk 2077 but despite that, it features several characters from the game with guns, clothing and other items all visible as well.
Is Cyberpunk: Edgerunners connected to the game?
Yes, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners has been connected to the game thanks to the presence of several characters, clothing items and the fact that it is a prequel. Not only that, Cyberpunk 2077 has also been connected to the Netflix anime series as there’s a drink named after Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ main character David Martinez. There’s also a mission where the player has to pick up Martinez’s Edgerunner Jacket.
Not only that, but after a patch, there’s an Over the Edge side-job that was created as a special collaboration between the game and the Netflix anime series.
When does Cyberpunk: Edgerunners take place?
Set in Mike Pondsmith’s Cyberpunk, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners takes place approximately a year before the incidents of Cyberpunk 2077.
FAQs about Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Q. Do you need to know Cyberpunk 2077 before watching Cyberpunk: Edgerunners?
A. While fans who have played the Cyberpunk tabletop RPGs and Cyberpunk 2077 may feel more connected to Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, one doesn’t need to have played 2077 to watch the Netflix show. This is because Edgerunners is a prequel to the CD Projekt Red release and is thus set a year before the events of the game took place. It also means for those who want to play the game after the show, whatever happens there won’t spoil Cyberpunk 2077 for them.
Q. Who created the Cyberpunk universe?
A. The Cyberpunk universe was created and written by Mike Pondsmith as a tabletop role-playing game and was first published by R Talsorian Games, in 1988. Since then, three editions of tabletop RPGs have been released alongside Cyberpunk 2077, a collectable card game and a Netflix anime series named Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
Q. What came first; Cyberpunk or Blade Runner?
A. Mike Pondsmith, creator and writer of Cyberpunk, has already revealed that the creation of the Cyberpunk universe is attributed to Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. This means that the former came after the latter, especially since the movie was released in 1982 and was based on the novel from 1968 while the first tabletop RPG was released in 1988.
