Cyberpunk 2077 will feature more diverse romance options

If the fact that Anthem lacked the diverse romance paths that Bioware was known for bothered you, CD Projekt Red’s upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 has you covered. Similar to its previous Witcher games, players can embark upon romance sidequests in-game.

Furthermore, unlike in The Witcher, where Geralt’s romantic partners were exclusively of the opposite sex, a lead quest designer has revealed that Cyberpunk “will feature romance options going beyond heterosexual.”

In a Reddit conversation, one of Cyberpunk 2077’s lead quest designers, Pawel Sasko, has stated that the game will feature romance sidequests “very similar” to how they are implemented in The Witcher 3. Players “will be able to form meaningful connections with other characters as well as go for one night stands”. Unlike the Witcher games, however, Sasko has suggested that the options on display will be more diverse. “Players will have way more options then only heterosexual, as it was in the Witcher 3”.

Sasko’s reasoning for this is that Geralt, the player character in The Witcher trilogy, was a mostly defined character, with a set backstory, personality and sexuality. Thus, it made sense to restrict the romance options to heterosexual in those games, as Geralt was straight. In Cyberpunk 2077, however, the player character is created by the player from scratch. In a statement to PC Gamer, CD Projekt Red clarified that “since we’re not bound by a predefined character like in The Witcher anymore, the game will feature romance options going beyond heterosexual.”

This is promising news for players wanting to pursue same-sex romance options. Games like Dragon Age and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey were celebrated for recognising that LGBTQIA+ people play video games as well, and like to see themselves represented. Admittedly, CD Projekt Red’s reputation on LGBTIQA+ issues is fairly chequered, where content in Cyberpunk 20177 has been accused of trans fetishisation. Their previous record of tweeting transphobic material isn’t exactly exemplary either.

That said, it’s hard to argue with more diverse romance paths in upcoming role playing games. It is good that one of the most anticipated upcoming releases is representing more types of gamers. Sounds like just another reason to look forward to Cyberpunk 20177’s release in April 2020.