The anime "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2" expands the world of "Cyberpunk 2077," but some ideas pitched by Japanese animation studio TRIGGER forced CD Projekt RED to hit the brakes.
Showrunner Bartosz Sztybor recently revealed during an official REDstreams broadcast that TRIGGER wanted to destroy Night City and Arasaka while developing both installments.
Discussing how the production balanced creative freedom with the franchise’s established canon, executive producer Saya Elder said, "TRIGGER has always been incredibly enthusiastic and passionate about bringing the world and lore of Cyberpunk into the anime."
Sztybor elaborated: "Sometimes TRIGGER comes to us with an idea, and we have to say, ‘No, I think that would break the existing lore.’"
"Then Patrick Mills, a senior developer at CDPR, thinks it over and says, ‘It is a strange idea, but maybe we could approach it differently... and then it might work.’"
Elder stressed that CDPR remained committed to preserving the animation team’s creative freedom throughout the collaboration.
"We work really hard to avoid saying ‘no’ to creative ideas whenever possible. We would rather be the people who say, ‘Yes, and...’ But many of those ideas are genuinely difficult to fit into the established lore," she said.
Still, despite CDPR’s willingness to accommodate the anime team’s imagination, some fundamental changes to the Cyberpunk universe remained strictly off-limits.
According to Sztybor, TRIGGER repeatedly proposed completely destroying Night City and the Arasaka Corporation, a move that would have dramatically reshaped the entire franchise.
"Every time we work with TRIGGER, they ask, ‘Can we destroy Arasaka and Night City?’ It was the same with ‘Edgerunners 2.’ During the very first week, they asked, ‘So, can we destroy Night City and Arasaka now?’"
"Edgerunners 2" follows Weak, a washed-up cyberpunk legend forced to live without chrome as he searches Night City for a renewed sense of purpose. Meanwhile, the deadly nomad D embarks on a quest for revenge that brings him dangerously close to buried corporate secrets.
Coinciding with the anime’s premiere, the "Cyberpunk 2077" Edgerunners 2 Update (2.5) also introduced a prequel quest, dual-wielding weapons and other new content.