CD Projekt REDI won’t lie to you – I love a good steelbook. They’re shiny, weighty, handsome little bits of kit that are often beautifully packaged with exclusive art, and it’s the art in particular that I’m typically a sucker for.
The Cyberpunk 2077 collector’s edition steelbooks look set to be the next thing my Magpie-like mind throws away money on, and I have comic artist Josan Gonzalez (AKA Deathburger) to thank for that. His work for CD Projekt RED re-imagining the gangs of Night City for the Cyberpunk 2077 steelbooks is absolutely stunning.
DeathburgerWhere the game itself favours photorealistic visuals bathed in neon lights and smoky alleyways, Gonzalez’s work is a completely different take, opting for sleek, simple pastel colours that make the world of Cyberpunk look more like indie-hit Void Bastards crossed with a futuristic GTA loading screen.
There are four versions in total, and each depict a different gang that inhabits Night City. It’s not entirely clear which gangs are which yet, since we haven’t actually been introduced to all of Cyberpunk 2077’s gangs as of now, but above you can see what look to be the Maelstrom, who were the main enemies in the E3 2018 gameplay demo.
Below, we have what I’m pretty sure is a member of the Voodo Boys, who we saw in the E3 2019 demo. In the recent demo, V worked with the Voodoo boys to clear out a rival gang who were making trouble a little too close to their turf.
DeathburgerI have no idea who these next two gangs are, but they look cool as all hell. The first looks to be heavy into religion, given the prayer candle, the cross necklace, and you know… the crucifix embedded in the guy’s head. I’d imagine the latter is some kind of cybernetic enhancement, as well as a way for him to show his love for the good Lord.
The machete is for slashing fools who don’t love the good Lord, presumably.
The second seems to be a member of some kind of biker gang, which I will fully want to sign up to join when the game launches so I can close my eyes and pretend really hard that I’m actually playing an Akira game.
Deathburger
DeathburgerCyberpunk 2077 is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in April 2020, and there are currently rumours that CD Projekt RED is already working on a sequel or expansion of some kind.
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Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.