Video game adaptations have recently become a big deal in the anime industry with many prominent projects like Arcane and Castlevania. However, the one name that holds a lot of significance in this field is Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, which is based on the popular 2020 action role-playing video game, Cyberpunk 2077, from Mike Pondsmith’s Cyberpunk universe.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is unlike any other video game adaptation, and there are many reasons behind it. From its story to its visualization, almost every aspect of the anime series brings out the best of the Cyberpunk universe, and it is one of the main reasons why the series has become so popular over the years. But there is one more thing that adds to the charm of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
It is the music within the series that adds a similarity to the video game. A few months ago, Paweł Sasko, the associate game director at CD Projekt Red (Cyberpunk 2077 video game developer), revealed some intriguing details about the anime adaptation and the video game’s music. He even pointed out that one of the employees at CD Projekt Red made a secret cameo in the series.
In July last year, Men’s Journal shared an exclusive interview with Sasko where they talked about the partnership with Studio Trigger and how it led to the development of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Sasko also talked about how they came up with the score for the series by using some of the music from the base game.
Sasko stated:
Trigger actually suggested that they use some of the music from the base game. At first Rafał Jaki and our business team thought ‘this probably won’t work, but give it a shot.’ Trigger put our music in, whatever they wanted, showed it to us, and everyone was like ‘holy shit.’ I have goosebumps when I think about it.
Ideally, video game anime adaptations develop their own scores to bring individuality to the series. But Studio Trigger pointed out that using the same music as the game would be the best move.
While CD Projekt Red was not so sure about it, they still gave it the green light. Later on, the result shocked them to the core. It fit perfectly with the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners theme and visualization and thus was finally approved.
While further talking about the music in the Cyberpunk video game and the anime adaptation, Sasko pointed out that the score is so unique that it features a cameo from the lawyer of CD Projekt Red, Diego Cichy Don. He revealed that Don “put his own piece into the background” to add more substance to the game and it ultimately made it into the series as well.
Sasko stated:
“There is a moment in Edgerunners where you can hear Polish rap in the back playing – that’s him.”
Studio Trigger’s move of using the same score as the Cyberpunk 2077 video game for the series was perfect as it not only supported the visualization but also grabbed the attention of the fans of the video game.
Now fans are eagerly waiting for another spin-off series based on the same Cyberpunk universe that was announced by Netflix in September 2024. Hopefully, it will be as good as Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is available to watch on Netflix.
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