Cyberpunk 2077 is the cover of EDGE Magazine November 2018

Joeyro · Sep 12, 2018

His Majesty said:
Is this a copypasta from somewhere? I don't recognize it.

Yikes, what a shameful way to dismiss his comment.

B.O.O.M. · Sep 12, 2018

That is an ugly ass cover

Fiel · Sep 12, 2018

Maybe I choose a wrong word to post. I agree that political correctness word of me is ridiculous when I read it again later. If my word triggered someone i am sorry, didn't intended to do that but i can't find the proper word that time to describe why someone must attack just because it is white male protag while it isn't neccessary that 'said' character is bland. Character is bland/boring will be an writing issue more than character design.

To further explain i mean that it seem their marketing plan intended to swap around M/F V equally so everyone is happy. (World Premier is MV/Gameplay is FV/Edge Cover is MV etc.) nothing more than that and no word between the line either.

And.. sorry because i am not native english user. so my post seems to has many blank meaning/use weird word or something like that so i am sorry if sometimes my post can't contribute the community in meaningful way up to proper expectation.

I edited my source post so everyone including me is happy and no more quotation please.

Deleted member 11018 · Sep 12, 2018

Vee/FemV (FMV ? :p) won t be anywhere... Vih/ManV was the 2018 trailer poster-child, it's done and won't change in my opinion (i'll play Vee, not Vih anyway).

Deleted member 5864 · Sep 12, 2018

This thread is a fucking shitshow. Especially for a game that was already marketed extensively with a woman as the main character, and shown to have a variety of options on that front.

Almost wishing we went back to the "too many bad words" discussion.

Ludens · Sep 12, 2018

Why its like 2 to 3 years out?

moose84 · Sep 12, 2018

inky said:
This thread is a fucking shitshow. Especially for a game that was already marketed extensively with a woman as the main character, and shown to have a variety of options on that front.

Almost wishing we went back to the "too many bad words" discussion.

I agree, it's getting so tedious.

takriel · Sep 12, 2018

Angel Whispers said:
Sorry (Not Sorry), This post can fuck the fuck off. You don't get to profile picture quote and dismiss. I don't blame people for feeling the way he does at all. Video games aspire to some sort of "realism", but we still live in times where developers create worlds where literally everybody is pale, male and able. That has NEVER been a "realistic" depiction of our planet. It isn't "just a video game" or "just a magazine cover", these things have real life consequences. They add to the sense that the gaming industry is a closed circle. It casts shadows of invisibility on people who don't check those boxes, and creates further social barriers if they have expressed a desire to work in the creative fields. Some people have pointed out that you can play as a woman, too, but even there, an underlying message exists, the idea that a woman lead couldn't exist on her own/without being optional, and developers and publishers are seemingly not brave enough to make such a move without having their default mode next to it. We're told "The Game Won't Sell". We're told that "Our Magazine Won't Sell". We're told that "It's Difficult". Or the presumption that it will "alienate" (although many publishers, development and media houses won't admit to targeting the pale, male and able demographics openly), when in actuality such difference would reach out to even more people.

It's sheer and deliberate obtuseness to go after people pushing for greater diversity and inclusion, people pointing out that they exist, and claim that they "hate white people". It's presented as "Either/Or", when is should be "Us, Too" and "All Of Us, TOGETHER". It's about co-existence, visibility, peaceful and respectful exchange, support and collaboration, and you're being pissy because you have to share with everybody else. What's "boring" is the whole idea of every discussion, story, event and (social) commentary being dominated and told through the lens of that demographic, as if anybody who doesn't fit that profile doesn't have a say. At a societal level, that leads to multitudes of perspectives being untold, unacknowledged, reduced and erased, with that same lens even trying to claim authority on those experiences and even define them for all people. There's enough of that in the world, let alone in the gaming industry, from publishers, whose most influential positions are dominated by people who check at least two of those three boxes, through to development houses who often treat the rest of us as afterthoughts in their game design, and to its press - You might have seen the statistics at EuroGamer a few months ago, among others, and they're even worse for race and disability. It's mighty fucking exhausting for those of us who point this stuff out. It isn't for fun, or to bash and trash.

Can't believe this needs to be spelled out, but furthermore, NONE of it is to say that we "hate" protagonists who don't look like us, or think all protagonists who don't look like us are "bad and shouldn't exist anymore", or that every idea that came from someone who doesn't look like us is "bad", or that demographics are a monolith. That Takriel has Link, or I (a Black thirty-something with a learning disability) have Juste Belmont as profile pictures is rather a reinforcement of this point. Stop this.

As for the rest of you, you can see the above. He isn't "owned", and you're not slick. Stop this.

Thanks so much for taking the time and writing this thoughtful response to all those who responded to the "rebuttal" of my post with schadenfreude. I was considering writing something similar, but thought that I wouldn't find the right words anyway and wanted to just let it be.

Kinthey · Sep 12, 2018

Mr. Phellps said:
Nope, I also did not miss the reveal trailer they had front and center at Microsoft's E3 press conference featuring the default male V. They can't have a single, continuous demo showing both variations of the protagonist (or none at all), obviously, but they sure can avoid defining the protagonist on a magazine cover. Specially such a generic one.

I'm not saying we should grab the torches and pitchforks, it's just a really boring cover and character for an universe as diverse as Cyberpunk.

While the focus was on the male narrator the reveal trailer showed off various Vs, who are recognisable by the jacket

Deleted member 18347 · Sep 12, 2018

funniest thing about this is that Acquiescence was just being cheeky knowing that Link ain't a boring white male protag but the opportunity presented itself

then some people took it seriously and ran with it

it's fascinating lol

Septic · Sep 12, 2018

inky said:
This thread is a fucking shitshow. Especially for a game that was already marketed extensively with a woman as the main character, and shown to have a variety of options on that front.

Almost wishing we went back to the "too many bad words" discussion.

Yep

Deleted member 29354 · Sep 12, 2018

Awesome! Alternate cover when...

ShadowGP said:
Fixed.

Yossarian · Sep 12, 2018

TaleSpun said:
It's not marketing.

Yeah it is.

Deleted member 888 · Sep 12, 2018

rashbeep said:
yep exactly, but it would be neat to see if they could get around those issues

again, not a terrible system but not unlike what we've seen in games like skyrim

Lashley · Sep 12, 2018

Angel Whispers said:
As for the rest of you, you can see the above. He isn't "owned", and you're not slick. Stop this.

Bansai · Sep 12, 2018

Acquiescence said:
If you hate boring white man protagonists so much, why do you have two of them in your avatar?

Pretty cool cover, though it's a bit too bright.

808s & Villainy · Sep 12, 2018

Venom said:
Yeah I hope that isn't the case. Female V should be THE lead marketing character. Also I didn't know that was the case for AC. Why would they do that?

I think there's the belief that games sold primarily to male gamers do better when there's a guy on the cover. Even Mass Effect 3 did this, for all the hype they made about FemShephard, although that I can at least understand as the male version had been the face of the first 2 games and it was a trilogy.

Hell, Naughty Dog had to fight to get Ellie on the cover of The Last of Us! Ellie! Literally one of the main fucking characters!
https://www.mcvuk.com/business/naug...ellie-a-starring-role-on-the-last-of-us-cover

Delusibeta · Sep 12, 2018

Soph said:
I love how Edge is always so far into the future. November?

AFAIK Future's monthly magazines publish 13 issues in a year, with the summer months seeing the magazine overtake the calendar. The 13th issue for the year is then labelled "Christmas".

RespectThySole · Sep 12, 2018

Angel Whispers said:
Sorry (Not Sorry), This post can fuck the fuck off. You don't get to profile picture quote and dismiss. I don't blame people for feeling the way he does at all. Video games aspire to some sort of "realism", but we still live in times where developers create worlds where literally everybody is pale, male and able. That has NEVER been a "realistic" depiction of our planet. It isn't "just a video game" or "just a magazine cover", these things have real life consequences. They add to the sense that the gaming industry is a closed circle. It casts shadows of invisibility on people who don't check those boxes, and creates further social barriers if they have expressed a desire to work in the creative fields. Some people have pointed out that you can play as a woman, too, but even there, an underlying message exists, the idea that a woman lead couldn't exist on her own/without being optional, and developers and publishers are seemingly not brave enough to make such a move without having their default mode next to it. We're told "The Game Won't Sell". We're told that "Our Magazine Won't Sell". We're told that "It's Difficult". Or the presumption that it will "alienate" (although many publishers, development and media houses won't admit to targeting the pale, male and able demographics openly), when in actuality such difference would reach out to even more people.

It's sheer and deliberate obtuseness to go after people pushing for greater diversity and inclusion, people pointing out that they exist, and claim that they "hate white people". It's presented as "Either/Or", when is should be "Us, Too" and "All Of Us, TOGETHER". It's about co-existence, visibility, peaceful and respectful exchange, support and collaboration, and you're being pissy because you have to share with everybody else. What's "boring" is the whole idea of every discussion, story, event and (social) commentary being dominated and told through the lens of that demographic, as if anybody who doesn't fit that profile doesn't have a say. At a societal level, that leads to multitudes of perspectives being untold, unacknowledged, reduced and erased, with that same lens even trying to claim authority on those experiences and even define them for all people. There's enough of that in the world, let alone in the gaming industry, from publishers, whose most influential positions are dominated by people who check at least two of those three boxes, through to development houses who often treat the rest of us as afterthoughts in their game design, and to its press - You might have seen the statistics at EuroGamer a few months ago, among others, and they're even worse for race and disability. It's mighty fucking exhausting for those of us who point this stuff out. It isn't for fun, or to bash and trash.

Can't believe this needs to be spelled out, but furthermore, NONE of it is to say that we "hate" protagonists who don't look like us, or think all protagonists who don't look like us are "bad and shouldn't exist anymore", or that every idea that came from someone who doesn't look like us is "bad", or that demographics are a monolith. That Takriel has Link, or I (a Black thirty-something with a learning disability) have Juste Belmont as profile pictures is rather a reinforcement of this point. Stop this.

As for the rest of you, you can see the above. He isn't "owned", and you're not slick. Stop this.

Did you miss the part where they revealed the game with the female main character as the lead?(48 minutes of gameplay)

The game uses a create a character system which allows for more diversity not less. And it has nothing to do with sales at all. These options are there so you can customize a character to fit the role you desire. Quite frankly your "underlying message" narrative is laughable for this particular game. Have you ever played a CRPG?

Mg. · Sep 12, 2018

Really digging that cover. Would make for a pretty great (and loud) poster.

Also has a bit of a vaporwave aesthetic to it haha

pronk · Sep 12, 2018

Anyone posted the scores yet?

Spider man got 8 and Dragon Quest 6. We happy few got a 4.

Edit: I think Gaucamelee 2 was an 8 and Strange brigade a 6 but could be remembering wrong. But surprised by the DQ score.

Joeyro · Sep 12, 2018

pronk said:
Anyone posted the scores yet?

Spider man got 8 and Dragon Quest 6. We happy few got a 4.

Okay i usually don't care about review scores but the 6 for DQ hurts me.

Yossarian · Sep 12, 2018

I know nothing I just sit here looking at pretty colours.

Rogote · Sep 12, 2018

Looks good.

Eolz · Sep 12, 2018

That cover is ugly, but talk about weird reactions for it showing a guy looking like the Wolfenstein protagonist, when most of the marketing has been about girl V so far, when there is a character creator that seems relatively decent, and when we don't even know the cover of the game (could perfectly be just the logo like some other games).
Others already pointed that out multiple times, but it seems that it's ignored for some reason.

Deep Friar · Sep 12, 2018

Wow this thread is....an embarrassment. Like people missed the nearly hour long demo with a female protagonist or something....

gordofredito · Sep 12, 2018

I don't really like it

Stryder · Sep 12, 2018

Every thread.

EVERY FUCKING THREAD

JESUS MOTHER OF FUCK

Edit: I don't mind the art.

gordofredito · Sep 12, 2018

Acquiescence said:
If you hate boring white man protagonists so much, why do you have two of them in your avatar?

Link is one of the most boring characters ever, but you're not supposed to sympathize with him imo, I always thought he was just for you to self-insert

SBit · Sep 12, 2018

Acquiescence said:
If you hate boring white man protagonists so much, why do you have two of them in your avatar?

Zemst · Sep 12, 2018

ow that cover is legit awful and i'm a fan of edge covers.

silva1991 · Sep 12, 2018

pronk said:
Anyone posted the scores yet?

Spider man got 8 and Dragon Quest 6. We happy few got a 4.

Edit: I think Gaucamelee 2 was an 8 and Strange brigade a 6 but could be remembering wrong. But surprised by the DQ score.

6 seems harsh.

N.47H.4N · Sep 12, 2018

Terrible cover.

Riderz1337 · Sep 12, 2018

Angel Whispers said:
Sorry (Not Sorry), This post can fuck the fuck off. You don't get to profile picture quote and dismiss. I don't blame people for feeling the way he does at all. Video games aspire to some sort of "realism", but we still live in times where developers create worlds where literally everybody is pale, male and able. That has NEVER been a "realistic" depiction of our planet. It isn't "just a video game" or "just a magazine cover", these things have real life consequences. They add to the sense that the gaming industry is a closed circle. It casts shadows of invisibility on people who don't check those boxes, and creates further social barriers if they have expressed a desire to work in the creative fields. Some people have pointed out that you can play as a woman, too, but even there, an underlying message exists, the idea that a woman lead couldn't exist on her own/without being optional, and developers and publishers are seemingly not brave enough to make such a move without having their default mode next to it. We're told "The Game Won't Sell". We're told that "Our Magazine Won't Sell". We're told that "It's Difficult". Or the presumption that it will "alienate" (although many publishers, development and media houses won't admit to targeting the pale, male and able demographics openly), when in actuality such difference would reach out to even more people.

It's sheer and deliberate obtuseness to go after people pushing for greater diversity and inclusion, people pointing out that they exist, and claim that they "hate white people". It's presented as "Either/Or", when is should be "Us, Too" and "All Of Us, TOGETHER". It's about co-existence, visibility, peaceful and respectful exchange, support and collaboration, and you're being pissy because you have to share with everybody else. What's "boring" is the whole idea of every discussion, story, event and (social) commentary being dominated and told through the lens of that demographic, as if anybody who doesn't fit that profile doesn't have a say. At a societal level, that leads to multitudes of perspectives being untold, unacknowledged, reduced and erased, with that same lens even trying to claim authority on those experiences and even define them for all people. There's enough of that in the world, let alone in the gaming industry, from publishers, whose most influential positions are dominated by people who check at least two of those three boxes, through to development houses who often treat the rest of us as afterthoughts in their game design, and to its press - You might have seen the statistics at EuroGamer a few months ago, among others, and they're even worse for race and disability. It's mighty fucking exhausting for those of us who point this stuff out. It isn't for fun, or to bash and trash.

Can't believe this needs to be spelled out, but furthermore, NONE of it is to say that we "hate" protagonists who don't look like us, or think all protagonists who don't look like us are "bad and shouldn't exist anymore", or that every idea that came from someone who doesn't look like us is "bad", or that demographics are a monolith. That Takriel has Link, or I (a Black thirty-something with a learning disability) have Juste Belmont as profile pictures is rather a reinforcement of this point. Stop this.

look-fam-its-not-that-deep-1703421.png.170a7e0adf39ed455003db16dedca799.png

Dennis8K · Sep 12, 2018

Love the cover. Reminds me of old EDGE aesthetics.

Coreda · Sep 12, 2018

rfriar said:
Wow this thread is....an embarrassment. Like people missed the nearly hour long demo with a female protagonist or something....

I'm not sure if the people critiquing the game in such a way have actually paid it much attention otherwise tbh. Then again it's just a forum discussion and it's not like people can't comment with off the cuff impressions (who hasn't, right?). It's odd when it becomes a war of some 'right' opinion, when it's ultimately just that, an opinion. Helps to know a bit more about the game before going on diatribes though.

patapon · Sep 12, 2018

pronk said:
Anyone posted the scores yet?

Spider man got 8 and Dragon Quest 6. We happy few got a 4.

Edit: I think Gaucamelee 2 was an 8 and Strange brigade a 6 but could be remembering wrong. But surprised by the DQ score.

spidey got an 8?? :D

Somni · Sep 12, 2018

Not going to lie, as far as covers go, I expected a more sick composition for Cyberpunk 2077.
Maybe something highlighting other aspects of the Night City experience, aside from the gun action.

Valdega · Sep 12, 2018

takriel said:
Boring white man protagonist. Couldn't they go with the woman at least?

The vast majority of EDGE readers are white men who want to play was white male characters. It makes more business sense to cater to their wishes.

Flipyap said:
I get that, but I meant Cyberpunk with a capital C, the game they're adapting. That's literally its number one rule.

I feel like many people aren't aware that Cyberpunk 2077 is an adaptation of a pen and paper game with its own established style and lore. They just see "cyberpunk" and think of the general setting/genre.

OutofMana · Sep 12, 2018

Coreda said:
I'm not sure if the people critiquing the game in such a way have actually paid it much attention otherwise tbh. Then again it's just a forum discussion and it's not like people can't comment with off the cuff impressions (who hasn't, right?). It's odd when it becomes a war of some 'right' opinion, when it's ultimately just that, an opinion. Helps to know a bit more about the game before going on diatribes though.

Era threads get bad sometimes, but i've been noticing them really going to shit a lot more often for the battle of having the right opinion that you mentioned. I'm sure the trend will continue with this game, just like all of the TLJ threads.

RedOnePunch · Sep 12, 2018

Not really digging the cover. Was hoping for better

Hey Please · Sep 12, 2018

Really digging the colours and overall aesthetic. Personally, I would have wished for a more radical cover conveying the primary aspect of Cyberpunk world as a whole, i.e. portrayal of transhumanism. If nothing else, the cover could have been shared a split image between both default male and female versions of V.

Valdega said:
The vast majority of EDGE readers are white men who want to play was white male characters. It makes more business sense to cater to their wishes.

The single most banal and trite line to grace the entire conservative movement aptly laid out here as a justification for maintaining status quo in this thread. I would ask for proof backing your assertion but I doubt you can supply me with hard evidence.

Zhukov · Sep 12, 2018

Acquiescence said:
If you hate boring white man protagonists so much, why do you have two of them in your avatar?

Avatar comebacks are so lame.

...

But credit where it's due, this is about as good as they come.

Somni · Sep 13, 2018

Christ, it seems like political arguments keep erupting in almost every thread these days...

Valdega · Sep 13, 2018

i-Lo said:
The single most banal and trite line to grace the entire conservative movement aptly laid out here as a justification for maintaining status quo in this thread. I would ask for proof backing your assertion but I doubt you can supply me with hard evidence.

I'm pretty sure I've done more research than you so here are a few links:
Gender breakdown
Gender swapping study
Another gender swapping study

Notable quotes:
"The case of gender and gender swapping originally explored by Griffiths et. al. (2003) where explored by analyzing survey results on two significant Ever Quest fan sights it was found that 14% of the male population gender-swapped and 1% of the female population did as well, these percentages seem small but these were taken from a sample-size of 11,457 people."

"The researchers found that the men were more than three times as likely as the women to gender-switch (23 percent vs. 7 percent)."

I'm not really sure why some people have trouble acknowledging things that should be common sense. In general, people aren't especially open-minded and will stick with what they know. Men generally prefer to play as men, women generally prefer to play as women. Same goes for ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, etc. This may not be what you wish or hope for but it's the truth.

Hey Please · Sep 13, 2018

Valdega said:
I'm pretty sure I've done more research than you so here are a few links:
Gender breakdown
Gender swapping study
Another gender swapping study

Notable quotes:
"The case of gender and gender swapping originally explored by Griffiths et. al. (2003) where explored by analyzing survey results on two significant Ever Quest fan sights it was found that 14% of the male population gender-swapped and 1% of the female population did as well, these percentages seem small but these were taken from a sample-size of 11,457 people."

"The researchers found that the men were more than three times as likely as the women to gender-switch (23 percent vs. 7 percent)."

I'm not really sure why some people have trouble acknowledging things that should be common sense. In general, people aren't especially open-minded and will stick with what they know. Men generally prefer to play as men, women generally prefer to play as women. Same goes for ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, etc. This may not be what you wish or hope for but it's the truth.

Firstly, I was asking for proof about the claim pertaining to EDGE reader demographics.

Secondly, you missed the point of my response completely. It was not about how real world gender identity informs digital avatar creation. Here is a portion from a study named, "Conjuring the Ideal Self: an Investigation of Self-Presentation in Video Game Avatars" conducted by Holly Maxwell Pringle in University of Glasgow (published June 2015):

In addition to this, the recent "Gamergate"controversy (see Heron et al., 2014) highlights the need for research in to gamer identity, particularly with respect to gender and gaming. Despite the number of female gamers, the games industry is still seen as a male dominated industry (Stuart, 2011; Jayanth, 2014). Women make up just 12% of the games industry workforce (Wallace & Robbins, 2006; Burgess et al., 2007). Stereotypes prevail, which subsequently affect the design and marketing of games. Research into gameplay choices will help to inform game design, as well as revealing information about social behaviour, individual differences and gender differences.

It is about driving change, pushing for equity, shifting balance of power and trying to make a group of people whose race and gender has by and large dominated the digital avatar/protagonist space throughout the history of the medium, empathize with the racial, ethnic, sexual and gender minorities who have become used to empathizing with the often very masculine, white, christian, heterosexual man.

Throughout history, be it cultural, religious or racial, "Status quo" has been one of the greatest ideologies for discrimination (and I am not just talking about whites). Today, a game about transhumanism is being developed by one of the most respected developers for a global market and yet it still is held back by "status quo" when this dystopian sci-fi project should be blowing doors off of existing societal norms and beliefs.

Resetta Stone · Sep 13, 2018

The real crime here is that the cover's color scheme almost obliterated my eyes. May need to see my ripper doc and get a new pair.

Furisco · Sep 13, 2018

This fucking place lmao

7thFloor · Sep 13, 2018

I honestly thought we were better than this...virtue signaling much

Alexious · Sep 13, 2018

Ludens said:
Why its like 2 to 3 years out?

Most certainly not. It's one to one and a half year out in all likelihood.

Cyberpunk 2077 is the cover of EDGE Magazine November 2018

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