Skip to main content

Cyberpunk 2077 Night City Wire Episode 3: PC requirements revealed

With a pair of major next-generation console updates, it’s been a busy week of video game news. But it’s not over, thanks to Cyberpunk 2077.

With the third installment of its livesteam series, Night City Wire, studio CD Projekt Red offered up all-new Cyberpunk 2077 details. And with a focus on the game’s gangs and musical score, Episode 3 shed more light on what players can expect in one of the year’s most anticipated launches.

Cyberpunk 2077 is currently slated to launch on November 19 to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia. We haven’t heard from CD Projekt Red since Microsoft and Sony announced their Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 launch dates, so there’s still no word on when the game will launch on next-generation hardware.

Either way, CD Projekt Red had plenty to say in Cyberpunk 2077 Night City Wire Episode 3. Read on to see all the announcements.

The Night City tour

CD Projekt Red kicked off the livestream with a “tour” of Night City, the game’s sprawling setting. The clip showed a variety of locations around the city, including a night club, a studio broadcast, and an area where homeless denizens of the city live. It also dissected how bad the crime is around Night City.

Those looking for a place to learn more about Night City, the clip said, can visit a website called NightCity.love. And yes, it’s a real website with information on history and transportation, and plenty of insight into the city’s districts.

Ultimately, the look at Night City was meant to showcase how diverse the city is, complete with a variety of different areas to explore and people to meet, CD Projekt Red said. The studio called it the “most complex” thing it’s ever worked on in a game.

The gangs of Night City

There are a variety of gangs in Night City, all vying for power. One, called Maelstrom, appears to be a particularly violent gang and bridges the gap between human and machine. Another, called the Valentinos, care about “honor,” but they also have a “punishment for every occasion,” according to the studio.

Sixth Street is another gang that seems to war with the Valentinos. And the Voodoo Boys were thought to be an “urban myth” but are feared. The Animals are called the “craziest” of the gangs, according to the clip. They’re often “hired muscle” that others might use.

Tyger Claws work in the black market and don’t like those who “ask questions.” The Moxs appears to be an all-female gang and talk about “community and solidarity.” The same goes for Nomads. The Aldecados care about “family,” according to the clip. That’s not too much to go on, but sheds some light on what may drive them.

According to CD Projekt Red, the gangs rule Night City and have the most weaponry and power throughout the city. Players will encounter them throughout the game and will sometimes hire players. However, players won’t be able to join a gang. Instead, players will be aligned with the Afterlife, a group that often gets the best jobs from gangs.

Depending on the gang, players will be able to choose different cars, weapons, and clothing.

PC requirements

Windows 10 or Windows 7 64-bit software will be required to run Cyberpunk 2077 on the PC. CD Projekt Red also said that the game will need DirectX 12 and an Intel Core i5-3570K or AMD FX-8310 CPU or better to run. On the memory front, expect to need 8GB and have an Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 3GB or AMD Radeon RX470 or better on the graphics side.

Cyberpunk 2077 will require 70GB of storage space.

To run the game at its best, players should prepare to have a Windows 10 PC running an Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 3 processor or better. Additionally, CD Projekt Red recommends 12GB of RAM and either an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB of memory or an AMD Radeon R9 Fury.

The mods

CD Projekt Red next turned to computer mods, created by fans in anticipation of the game’s launch. The mods were all designed based on what fans have seen so far from the game. CD Projekt Red plans to announce the winning mod design in the coming weeks and will make it available in a charity auction.

A look back

Interested in seeing what CD Projekt Red announced in the previous Cyberpunk 2077 Night City Wire episodes? Here’s some of Digital Trends’ coverage.

Editors' Recommendations

Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger is a freelance technology, video game, and entertainment journalist. He has been writing about the world of…
Baldur’s Gate 3: PS5 release dates, file size, preorder, and early access
A party of heroes stands on a cliff in Baldur's Gate 3.

If you've been patiently waiting for Baldur's Gate 3 to arrive on PlayStation 5 while PC players got an early start, you won't have to wait much longer, unlike Xbox players. By now you don't need us to tell you just how amazing this game has shaped up to be, and are more than likely already prepared with your choice of character and just waiting for the green light to finally dive into this massive CRPG. But if your excitement has gotten the better of you and you don't know exactly when Baldur's Gate 3 will be ready to play, how to preload, or even if you can get in on the game a little early, we've got you covered.
Baldur's Gate 3 release time

Baldur's Gate 3 will come out for all PS5 players officially on September 6 at 9 a.m. PT / 12 p.m. ET. Anyone who purchased the Digital Deluxe Edition gets 72 hours of early access, meaning you can start playing on September 3 instead.
Baldur's Gate 3 file size

Read more
All cross-platform games (PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)
Two squads of heroes clash in an Overwatch 2 trailer.

Cross-platform support is becoming more important in the world of video games. Multiplayer hits like Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 and Fortnite have pushed crossplay into the limelight, and now most AAA multiplayer games release with at least partial cross-platform support. Finding every cross-platform game is no easy feat, though, so we did the hard work to bring you a comprehensive list of games that support crossplay.

Unfortunately, there aren't any rules when it comes to crossplay, so each game handles the feature a little differently. To make matters more confusing, certain backward-compatible games on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X still support crossplay on the most recent hardware, even if there isn't an official release for that hardware.

Read more
Sony’s cloud handheld, the PlayStation Portal, will only stream certain games
Astro's Playroom booting up on the PlayStation Portal.

Sony has unveiled the price for its upcoming cloud gaming handheld, as well as an official name for the device: PlayStation Portal. However, one significant caveat to its functionality might sour people's interest in the handheld: It only supports PS4 and PS5 native games that the owner purchased.
PlayStation VR2 games can't be streamed to PlayStation Portal, which does make sense. More bafflingly, though, is the fact that the PlayStation Blog post states that "games that are streamed through PlayStation Plus Premium’s cloud streaming are not supported." That means you shouldn't pick up PlayStation Portal expecting to stream some PS3 and PS4 games available through PlayStation Plus Premium to the device. That's certainly an odd omission when it's currently PlayStation's most notable cloud gaming effort.
Although Microsoft is more closely associated with cloud gaming, Sony beat it to releasing a dedicated cloud gaming device. PlayStation Portal was first teased as Project Q during May's PlayStation showcase, but now, a PlayStation Blog post more clearly explains what we can actually expect from the handheld. Most importantly, we learned that PlayStation Portal will cost $200, which puts it underneath the cost of a Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series S, and other cloud gaming devices like the Logitech G Cloud Handheld.
As for what you're getting for that price tag, it's essentially a decent screen attached to two halves of a DualSense controller. The controllers on each side share all the functionality of the DualSense, including things like haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. In-between is an 8-inch LCD screen that streams games over Wi-Fi at up to a 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second. All in all, that's fairly solid for a cloud gaming handheld that is this cheap.
Sony confirmed that the PlayStation Portal will have a 3.5mm audio jack, but also used the same blog post to unveil two new wireless audio options. There's the Pulse Elite wireless headset that features a retractable boom mic and a charging hanger and Pulse Explore wireless earbuds that offer similar audio quality in earbud form.
None of these products are available for preorder or have a specific release date just yet, but they are all expected to launch before the end of the year.

Read more