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Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Cyberpunk 2077 are connected, but they are not the same story. Both occupy the Cyberpunk universe and use Night City as a central setting. The anime follows David Martinez and his crew, while the game puts you in control of V. You can watch the anime without playing the game first; playing Cyberpunk 2077 afterward gives you an interactive way to explore the world that Edgerunners establishes.
The clearest description comes from the June 25, 2020 announcement by Netflix and CD PROJEKT RED: Edgerunners is “set in the same universe as the upcoming game, Cyberpunk 2077.” Netflix also describes it as a standalone, 10-episode story. That makes it a companion narrative rather than a retelling, direct adaptation, or required prologue to the game.
What connects Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Cyberpunk 2077?
The connection is a shared fictional universe. Both stories present the dystopian world of Cyberpunk 2077, with Night City as the most important location. They draw on the same broad ideas: powerful corporations, criminal gangs, cybernetic augmentation and people trying to survive in a city where technology and inequality shape everyday life.
Edgerunners was produced through a collaboration between CD PROJEKT RED, the company behind the game, and Studio TRIGGER, which handled the animation. Netflix distributed the series. The original announcement on June 25, 2020 established the shared-universe relationship before the anime’s 2022 release.
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That relationship is deliberately wider than a cameo or an Easter egg. Edgerunners tells an original story in the same world, using its own cast and dramatic arc. Knowledge of the game can add context, but it is not needed to understand the anime’s central conflict.
Is Edgerunners a sequel, prequel or adaptation of the game?
It is none of those in the usual sense. Netflix calls Edgerunners a “standalone, 10-episode story,” which means the series has its own beginning, development and ending. It does not retell Cyberpunk 2077’s campaign, and the game is not required as a previous chapter.
It is not a game adaptation
David Martinez is not another version of V, and Edgerunners does not dramatize the player’s missions. The anime has a fixed narrative written for television, whereas the game’s campaign is experienced through player decisions, optional activities and different approaches to missions.
It is not a direct sequel
The series does not continue V’s personal storyline. Its role is closer to a parallel story that makes the setting more tangible: viewers see how another group navigates Night City’s criminal underworld and the pressures created by cyberware, money and corporate power.
It is not a required prequel
The official standalone description matters for first-time viewers. You do not need a save file, familiarity with game characters or knowledge of the game’s systems to follow David’s story. The anime supplies the context it needs through its own characters and events.
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- CREATE YOUR OWN CYBERPUNK
- Explore the city of the future – you decide when you want to go where and how to get there
- Decide how the story ends – your choices in the main game as well as in the spy thriller adventure Phantom Liberty lead to a complex web of consequences
How the two experiences differ
The shared setting does not make the two works interchangeable. Their formats determine what kind of story each can tell.
| Comparison | Cyberpunk 2077 | Cyberpunk: Edgerunners |
|---|---|---|
| Medium | Interactive role-playing game | Animated television series |
| Protagonist | V, a player-created character | David Martinez, a fixed protagonist |
| Story structure | Branching player choices, missions and optional activities | One fixed 10-episode narrative |
| Entry requirement | Access to the game and time to play it | Access to the series through its distributor |
| Shared-world material | Night City, corporations, gangs, cyberware and the broader Cyberpunk setting | |
In the game, you decide how V responds to situations and which activities to pursue. In the anime, the audience follows David’s decisions as part of a scripted arc. This difference changes the emotional experience: the game asks you to inhabit Night City, while the series asks you to observe one person’s route through it.
Does Edgerunners take place in Night City?
Yes. The official press-center description places David’s story in Night City’s criminal underworld and identifies the series as part of the dystopian world of Cyberpunk 2077. Night City is therefore more than a visual backdrop. It is the social and economic system that creates the characters’ opportunities and dangers.
What Night City contributes to both stories
- Corporate power: Large companies influence employment, security and access to technology.
- Gangs and the underworld: Criminal organizations provide work and protection while creating rivalries and violence.
- Cyberware: Body modification is part of daily life and a source of capability, status and risk.
- Unequal opportunity: Characters operate within a city where wealth and institutional power are unevenly distributed.
These elements appear through different perspectives. The game lets you investigate districts and make choices directly; Edgerunners concentrates on David and the people around him. Shared locations and concepts can feel familiar without requiring the stories to line up scene by scene.
Who are the main protagonists?
David Martinez in Edgerunners
David is the center of the anime’s fixed narrative. The series follows his movement through Night City’s criminal underworld and the relationships he forms with his crew. Because the story is scripted, his personality, history and decisions are part of the authorial design rather than choices made by the viewer.
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- 2025 CD PROJEKT S.A. All rights reserved. CD PROJEKT, the CD PROJEKT logo, the REDengine logo, Cyberpunk, Cyberpunk 2077, the Cyberpunk 2077 logo, Johnny Silverhand, the SAMURAI logo, Phantom Liberty and the Phantom Liberty logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of CD PROJEKT S.A. in the US and/or other countries. All other copyrights and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
V in Cyberpunk 2077
V is the player character. You select V’s background and make decisions that influence how missions unfold and how relationships develop. The game can therefore present different versions of V depending on the player’s choices, while Edgerunners presents one definitive version of David’s journey.
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Should you play Cyberpunk 2077 before watching Edgerunners?
No. The anime is designed to stand on its own, so watching it first is a valid—and often the simplest—entry point. You can understand David’s motivations, the crew’s problems and the stakes of the story without prior game knowledge.
Watch first if you want a focused introduction
Choose the anime first when you prefer a finite story with a known protagonist and a defined episode count. Its 10-episode format gives you a complete route into Night City without asking you to learn game mechanics or commit to an open-ended playthrough.
Play first if you want interactive context
Start with Cyberpunk 2077 if your priority is exploring Night City yourself. The game is the interactive entry point into the setting: you control V, choose approaches to missions and spend time in districts that the anime presents from David’s perspective. The official Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition booklet is one concrete game-product path for readers who want to continue in the setting.
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- CREATE YOUR OWN CYBERPUNK - Become an urban outlaw equipped with cybernetic enhancements and build your legend on the streets of Night City.
- EXPLORE THE CITY OF THE FUTURE - Night City is packed to the brim with things to do, places to see, and people to meet. And it’s up to you where to go, when to go, and how to get there.
- BUILD YOUR LEGEND - Go on daring adventures and build relationships with unforgettable characters whose fates are shaped by the choices you make.
- DECIDE HOW THE STORY ENDS - Your choices in the base game and the spy-thriller adventure Phantom Liberty create interweaving webs of consequences, ones that shape the fate of the characters around you — and your own.
- CLAIM EXCLUSIVE ITEMS - Claim in-game swag & digital goodies inspired by CD PROJEKT RED games as part of the My Rewards program.
Use both in either order
There is no canon requirement to choose one sequence. Watching first can make the game’s world feel more familiar; playing first can make shared concepts and locations easier to recognize while you watch. Neither order turns the other into homework.
What should you look for when moving between the anime and game?
Approach the connection as shared world-building rather than a puzzle that requires matching every event. The most useful points of comparison are the setting, institutions and technologies that both stories use.
- Notice Night City’s social structure. Compare how corporations and gangs affect ordinary people, rather than expecting the same characters to appear.
- Pay attention to cyberware. In both formats, augmentation is tied to power and identity, but the game lets you configure V while the anime follows David’s personal limits.
- Separate setting facts from plot facts. A familiar location or concept confirms the shared world; it does not mean the anime is recounting a game mission.
- Expect different pacing. A game can pause for exploration and optional quests. A 10-episode series must move through a fixed sequence of dramatic beats.
This approach avoids a common misunderstanding: continuity does not require identical protagonists, identical events or a single chronological campaign.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How the connection was announced and expanded
Netflix and CD PROJEKT RED announced the collaboration on June 25, 2020. The announcement described Edgerunners as a new anime set in the same universe as Cyberpunk 2077 and presented it as a 10-episode production. The official press-center information identifies the original series’ release year as 2022.
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Adam Badowski, Cyberpunk 2077 game director and CD PROJEKT RED head of studio, called the project “our love letter to cyberpunk as a whole, and to stories told in animated form.” Masahiko Otsuka, Studio TRIGGER’s CEO, described the collaboration as a “brand-new story set in the world” of Cyberpunk 2077. Those statements reinforce the intended relationship: a new narrative created inside the game’s world, not a scene-by-scene conversion of the game.
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- CREATE YOUR OWN CYBERPUNK: Become an urban outlaw equipped with cybernetic enhancements and build your legend on the streets of Night City
- EXPLORE THE CITY: Night City is packed to the brim with things to do, places to see, and people to meet. And it’s up to you where to go, when to go, and how to get there
- BUILD YOUR LEGEND: Go on daring adventures and build relationships with unforgettable characters whose fates are shaped by the choices you make
Edgerunners 2
On July 5, 2025, CD PROJEKT RED announced Edgerunners 2. The announcement describes it as another standalone anime in the world of Cyberpunk 2077, with a new story direction and a continuing collaboration with TRIGGER. It does not turn the original series into a direct adaptation of the game or make David’s plot the only possible story in Night City.
Bartosz Sztybor, showrunner, story writer and producer on Edgerunners 2, summarized the approach by saying, “David’s story might be over, but there’s plenty more to discover in Night City.” That framing is consistent with the original connection: the setting can support multiple independent stories.
A practical viewing and playing plan
If you are deciding what to do next, use this order:
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- Watch Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Treat it as a complete 10-episode story and follow David’s arc without searching for game prerequisites.
- Start Cyberpunk 2077 if you want agency. Choose V’s background, make your own decisions and explore Night City at your pace.
- Compare themes, not mission numbers. Look for corporations, gangs, cyberware and the city’s social hierarchy rather than trying to map every anime scene to a quest.
- Follow future announcements separately. Edgerunners 2 is announced as a new standalone story, so it should be approached as another entry in the universe rather than as a continuation of V’s campaign.
The bottom line on the connection
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is connected to Cyberpunk 2077 through its universe, setting and production collaboration. Both use Night City and the wider Cyberpunk world, but they tell different stories in different media. Edgerunners follows David Martinez in a fixed 10-episode anime; Cyberpunk 2077 lets you create and control V in an interactive, choice-driven game. Watch the anime first, play first or use both—the order is optional because Edgerunners is explicitly standalone.
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