Cyberpunk 2077 and transgressive failure

This article employs the logic of discursive transgression to address critical readings of CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 which argue for the game to be a genre failure. The narrative- and worldbuilding-focused criticism of the game, prominent in its reviews, can be seen as fuelled by Cyberpunk 2077’s fallibility with regard to the functions of a literary formula and the interaction with the discursive expectations of the audience. By erasing, diminishing or mishandling themes central to current cultural and public debates, the game creates a near future vision in which they are deprived of relevance. As the article argues, the negative reception of that vision results in a transgressive revelation of discursive premises which become consolidated upon the confrontation with their disappearance. Thus, the game’s genre failure enables reflection on the significance of preconceptions in critical reception.