“It’s not going to sound like one thing depending on what part of the city you’re in.”

In the last episode of Night City Wire, the video series by developer CD Projekt Red that goes behind the scenes of its upcoming open-world, action-adventure game Cyberpunk 2077, the creative processes behind the game’s original score and soundtrack get explored with insights offered by the composers and musicians involved.

“[The] score is the main vessel of emotions in both movies and video games, and Cyberpunk 2077 is no different,” said music director and composer Marcin Przybylowicz (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Phantom Doctrine).

Composer P.T. Adamczyk (GWENT: The Witcher Card Game and Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales) noted that one of the main ideas was to extract the cyberpunk genre out of the ’80s and “give it a ’90s flair”.

He added: “We took elements from rave, IDM, industrial, and make them fit our narrative purposes.”

Cellist Tina Guo praised how the score for Cyberpunk 2077 gave her the freedom to experiment with her particular sound.

“I love the fact that the music in this game is so varied,” she said. “So, we have tracks that are super dirty, super heavy, and then we have some tracks that very beautiful and ambient, and I’m using all kinds of different effects. So it’s been great to be able to experiment with the sound and the style.”

The game’s soundtrack features musicians and artists from all types of genres, contributing over 150 tracks to the game which will be played via the in-game radio or in the background.

Featured artists include Grimes, Gazelle Twin, Rat Boy, and Run the Jewels among others.

Be sure to watch the entire segment for additional insights from composer Paul Leonard-Morgan, sound designer Richard Devine, and drummer Ilan Rubin.

Cyberpunk 2077 is developed by CD Projekt Red and will be released on 10th December for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, and Stadia. The game will also be playable on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.