CD Projekt Red, the developer behind Cyberpunk 2077, is producing a new anime for Netflix. “We are so excited to finally reveal that we are working on an anime in the Cyberpunk world,” said game director of Cyberpunk 2077, Adam Badowski. The news came as part of today’s Night City Wire premiere, which featured new gameplay and details for Cyberpunk 2077.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Anime Announcement
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, a new upcoming 10-episode anime series set in the Cyberpunk 2077 universe, has been in the making since 2018. It is expected to be available for streaming some time in 2022 on Netflix. The new series was announced today during the first-ever Night City Wire broadcast, put on by CD Projekt Red for their upcoming game, Cyberpunk 2077. The acclaimed developer and publisher is producing the show, while the animation is being done by Studio Trigger, the Japan-based animation company responsible for the production of animes like Kill la Kill and Little Witch Academia. The story will be about the journey of a street kid who becomes an Edgerunner in an unforgiving, technologically obsessed world―something all of us understand too well.
With Studio Trigger comes Hiroyuki Imaishi as the director and Masahiko Otsuka as assistant director. The two worked on Gurren Lagann and Promare together, an anime series and a movie, respectively. “I’ve always loved cyberpunk as a genre, but always found it difficult to create as an original work. This is why I’m very excited to be working with CD Projekt Red on this project. It won’t be easy to please both game and anime fans, but I love a challenge, and I’m looking forward to the production. We’ll do our best to meet and exceed expectations.”
Both Masahiko Otsuka (Kill la Kill, Gurren Lagann, Promare) Yoshiki Usa (SSSS.GRIDMAN, Promare) are responsible for the adapted screenplay. “We at TRIGGER are thrilled to work with CD PROJEKT RED to create a brand-new story set in the world of the highly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077. It’s a huge challenge to adapt this universe into an anime, but we are eager to face it head-on,” Masahiko Otsuka said.
Other notable people are Hiromi Wakabayashi (Kill la Kill) as creative director, and Yoh Yoshinari (BNA: Brand New Animal, Little Witch Academia) and Yuto Kaneko (Little Witch Academia) as character designers.
Accompanying the story and visual styles is the original music of Silent Hill series composer, Akira Yamaoka. Badowski voiced his excitement about the reveal. “We’ve devoured just about all the cyberpunk fiction there is to watch, read, and play; it’s a genre that leaves so much room for creativity, and has had such a strong influence on us,” said Badowski. “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is our love letter to cyberpunk as a whole, and to stories told in animated form.” This is definitely a great way for Studio Trigger to celebrate their 10th anniversary.
Although Cyberpunk: Edgerunners won’t arrive until 2022, Cyberpunk 2077 is set to release this November. Stay tuned for more details.