Out of all the subsets of sci-fi, the cyberpunk genre stands out as one of the most subversiveโ rebellious even. What sets it apart from its typical sci-fi contemporaries in fiction is how it presents itself as a tragic and, at times, agitational commentary on society with its high-tech, low-life perspective on the dystopian divide between the rich and the poor.
As revolutionary as it sounds, however, the cyberpunk genre and cyberpunk fiction sadly seem to fall prey to its own brand of tragedy. Itโs a genre that keeps betraying itself time and again, especially with staple media like Cyberpunk 2077 and its upcoming DLC, Phantom Liberty.
Cyberpunk Has Its Own Distinct Spirit
Thereโs a thin line that separates the cyberpunk genre from the usual dystopian sci-fi, and itโs not just the inherent political stance.
Cyberpunk usually paints a hopeless worldโ albeit with a functioning society, somehow. And in this world, corporations rule everything since they control access to technology. These can range from cybernetic limbs to nervous system implants that can only be viewed as the next step towards human evolution or mutation.
Consequently, governments are mostly nowhere to be found as corporations hold more power and wealth.
Moreover, the gap between the elite and the regular wage slave is driven even deeper and wider as the wealthiest and most influential could afford the most advanced technology. They could practically turn themselves into more advanced human beings.
Anyone who canโt keep up with this kind of technological zeitgeist is left in the dust and is treated as nothing more than meat. After all, a few cybernetic limb replacements could easily turn a person into a superhero in a cyberpunk setting.
Cyberpunk shows like Altered Carbon explored this dramatic disparity between the rich and the poor. There, the filthy rich had become technologically immortal since they could just discard their aging bodies and slip into a younger and healthier clone or corpse.
Now theyโre living as gods in their own little Elysium, looking down as the regular human fights one another for literal scraps of technology in order to survive.
It is this kind of interaction between the different classes of society that makes the cyberpunk genre more haunting and more relatable as a satire of current civilizations that might be dead set on a similar (or, dare we say, identical) trajectory.
The Cyberpunk Hero is Always the Defiant Rebel
As the icing on top of the cake, the protagonist with which a cyberpunk medium typically explores its ideas is almost always the little man.
In Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, this would be the young David, in both live-action Blade Runner movies, it’s the clueless Blade Runner pawns, and in The Matrix, itโs Neo as an initial corporate slave.
Their stories are either dissident attempts to disrupt the false veneer of order in a cyberpunk setting or some kind of disillusioned climb to the top that typically results in violence with a dash of transgressive fiction.
The most definitive cyberpunk fiction is always about fighting the system against greed, against Ayn Randโs own brand of laissez-faire capitalism manifesting in a sci-fi settingโ always culminating in a poetic war between the underclass and some form of megacorporation overlords.
It’s by far the most stylish futuristic retelling of the old David vs. Goliath parable; with a twist, of course.
The struggles of these abject protagonists donโt always have to end in satisfaction or victory. In fact, the stories are arguably more memorable if the cyberpunk hero dies or fails in a noble act of resistance. Such was the case for David in Edgerunners and his martyrdom.
However, the message is intact regardless of the cyberpunk heroโs fate. Cyberpunk is a heavy and raw criticism of capitalism and its unbridled evils. Even the widely popular Cyberpunk 2077 doesnโt shy away from this kind of political tone.
Therein lies the irony.
Cyberpunk 2077 is a Product of Corporations
You canโt deny just how successful Cyberpunk 2077 has become over the past few years. Even before it was released, it was already being touted as the gaming equivalent of the second coming of some son-of-god. But come its release date in late 2020, it quickly soured.
It was one of the worst video game releases of the decade (and in history). Cyberpunk was a buggy experience, and the game was even borderline unplayable on โlast-gen consoles. And itโs not just the buggy or glitchy mess that welcomed the fans.
The incomplete content, the rushed story, and the shallow theme park loop made it a disastrous release. Speculations point to the game being rushed by its financial leaders and executives, forcing the developer studio to stick to a tight deadline and cut corners for an undercooked product.
It was a fiasco that took the studio months or even years to rectify. They’re now just recovering with the Phantom Liberty expansion, which will supposedly add or overhaul the main game’s missing or promised features.
Whoever was responsible for Cyberpunk 2077 sold an inferior product at full price, with promises of RPG innovation and gameplay features that they never got to add. For many fans, it was a travesty– buying a game they could barely play over a promise that was never fulfilled unless they wait for an expansion.
This release became yet again another standard for corporate greed in the gaming industry amid typical offenders like Electronic Arts, Activision-Blizzard, and Ubisoft. It’s another classic move of “creating a problem and selling the solution.”
Still, despite the mess, Cyberpunk 2077 held its spot as one of the most-sold video games of all time (not counting refunds). To date, it has sold 20 million copies, totaling an estimated revenue of $1 billion.
This made Cyberpunk 2077 the most successful cyberpunk media yet, and that kind of success is only about to be more pronounced with the upcoming Phantom Liberty DLC or expansion.
But then, Cyberpunk 2077 is a Critique Against Corporate Greed
Those who have played Cyberpunk 2077 will have already gotten the point and have seen the irony.
The story is about an aspirant named V who wanted to make a name for themselves in Night City while being host to a violent and disturbed cyber-ghost who wants to topple corporations.
The game doesnโt even need to tell its story for its players to notice how Cyberpunk 2077 parades around the very soul and essence of the cyberpunk genre. Be it from the contrast between the alluring neon and the grimy streets to the Kafkaesque corporate activities.
Cyberpunk 2077 kept true to its genre as much as it could, making it an undeniable critique of the dangers of capitalism. To prove the point further, the gameโs soul-crushing โbadโ ending is the one where players become a corporate sellout.
Sadly, it’s this very critique that they should have heeded before they released the game in such a state and before they decided to cash in yet again on the solution to the problem they created using the Phantom Liberty expansion.
Thereโs a huge dissonance between what the gameโs story wants to convey and how it actually betrayed the gaming industry or how it wronged its fanbase.
The Cyberpunk Genre is its Own Paradox
Cyberpunk 2077, being a mockery of itself, merely illustrates the inherent flaws of the cyberpunk genre as a form of entertainment.
It could have been any cyberpunk fiction, really. Because once a piece of cyberpunk entertainment has become too popular or too profitable under these current circumstances in our society, it has already lost its soul.
Any art that becomes too profitable and has sold itself out to businesses and corporations has a tendency to be milked or picked apart to the marrow and then reanimated as a shambling corpse. Profit will often override the artistsโ vision.
This somehow explains the steady boom and growth in indie entertainment and indie artists. It’s an adverse reaction to the exploitative hellscape of mainstream entertainment.
The cyberpunk genre is no exception, especially with its identity being rooted in rebellion.
A piece of cyberpunk fiction simply cannot be just about cyberpunk aesthetics (all cyber and no punk), as ignoring the genreโs extremely political ecosystem is the kind of apathy and ignorance that it fights against.
Even more disheartening is how this self-contradicting Catch-22 situation for mainstream cyberpunk entertainment is akin (or even symbolic) to a tragic cyberpunk heroโs struggles. The more fervently it tries to claw itself out of its corporate hole, the deeper the hole becomes.
Granted, there’s typically no reprieve for the denizens of a cyberpunk dystopia. Their lives are the mere inescapable caricatures of a civilization that cannibalizes itself.
So you could argue that cyberpunk media betraying itself is a meta-commentary for our times; but it’s a lot more lamentable for art and artistsโto see their beloved creations reluctantly prostituted by the very villains they warned about.
Like a snake that keeps eating its own tail in an endless loop, the cyberpunk genre in the mainstream media will be its own enemy for a long time.