Netflix is looking to expand its anime output with a new series based upon the hotly-anticipated video game Cyberpunk 2077 from developer CD PROJEKT RED (The Witcher), entitled Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
Produced by Netflix and CD PROJEKT RED with acclaimed Japanese anime company Studio Trigger handling animation, the 10-episode series will tell a standalone story set within the Cyberpunk 2077 universe and follows “a street kid trying to survive in a technology and body modification-obsessed city of the future. Having everything to lose, he chooses to stay alive by becoming an edgerunner—a mercenary outlaw also known as a cyberpunk.”
“We are so excited to finally reveal that we are working on an anime in the Cyberpunk world,” said Adam Badowski, Cyberpunk 2077 Game Director and CD PROJEKT RED Head of Studio. “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. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is our love letter to cyberpunk as a whole, and to stories told in animated form.”
“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,” added Masahiko Otsuka, CEO, Studio Trigger, with Director Hiroyuki Imaishi adding, “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.”
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is slated to premiere on Netflix in 2022, while Cyberpunk 2077 will hit PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and PC on November 19th of this year.