Cyberpunk 2077’s 2.0 update includes a Ukrainian localisation of the game’s enormous script, but added in this version without developer CD Projekt Red’s knowledge are references to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
As reported by RockPaperShotgun, there are several nods to Ukrainian slogans, derogatory terms for Russians, and key phrases used during the invasion. For instance, the Ukrainian localisation changes the line, “We’re fucking through” to, “Go fuck yourself in the same direction as the ship did.” This is likely a nod to Ukrainian border guard Roman Hrybov’s response to Russian missile cruiser Moskva when asked to surrender in February of last year.
There’s also new graffiti rooted in Ukraine and Russia’s history. RPS asked an organiser of Indie Cup, a Ukraine-based digital festival of games, what the iconography means. “The graffiti represents the outlines of Crimea, the peninsula that was illegally annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014,” organiser Arsenii Tarasov said. “Juxtaposed are the Ukrainian coat of arms and taraq tamga (the symbol of Crimean Tatars).” Essentially, this implies that Crimea is still part of Ukraine in Cyberpunk 2077.
There is also altered dialogue for the Scavengers faction. In the English version of the game, the line reads, “Couldn’t all these assholes bite it out in the Badlands?” But in the Ukrainian localisation, the line swaps assholes for “rusnia”, a derogatory term for Russians.
There are also tweaks to the UI, with inventory screens referencing Ukrainian state messages. “Є перевага” for example, means “there is an advantage”. “єПідтримка” translates to “there is support” (i.e. the COVID-19 relief payouts). “єРакета” means “there is a missile”. And “єВідновлення” means “there is renovation”.
These UI changes extend to the photo mode. You can select a crouching character pose in any version of the game, but in the Ukrainian localisation, it’s labelled as “like a Russian”. You can see it embedded below.
While CD Projekt Red has been critical of Russia’s invasion and supportive of Ukraine, even donating over $200,000 to aid civilians and refugees, it has announced that all of the anti-Russian imagery and dialogue in Cyberpunk 2077 will be removed.
“The Ukrainian localisation of Cyberpunk 2077 contains several remarks that could offend some Russian players,” CD Projekt Red said (as reported by PC Gamer). “These remarks were not written by CD Projekt Red employees and do not represent our views. We are working to fix them and replace them in the next update. We apologise for the situation and are taking steps to ensure it does not happen again.”