The day Northstar Games ended its press conference, it went silent again.
No follow-up announcements.
No sudden updates.
No extra marketing pushes.
Just like before — after causing a storm, the company seemed to "die" again.
But this time, the silence only made the explosion louder.
Because what they had revealed before going quiet—
Shook the entire gaming industry.
From NGA to Hupu, from Tieba to Weibo's Official Blog, discussions flooded every platform. On BiliZone, video creators began analyzing the trailer frame by frame. QQ groups, WeChat circles, university dorm chats — everywhere, people were talking about only one thing.
2077.
A domestic company.
Making a AAA cyberpunk game.
Was that even possible?
"Does China even have a real AAA title?"
"Single-player games already struggle here — and now they're making a 3A monster?"
"Isn't that financial suicide?"
But Northstar Games had done it anyway.
And the most shocking part?
Ethan Reed had clearly said:
"We started development a year ago."
That meant—
They began working on 2077 before Stardew Valley exploded in popularity.
Before they rose to prominence.
Before they became a giant name.
That single sentence stunned more people than the trailer itself.
Because the trailer quality proved it couldn't be rushed. The modeling, lighting, environmental detail, sound design — it screamed time and money.
And with a March demo already announced?
Nobody doubted him.
---
The NGA Post That Broke the Forum
That night, the most popular thread on NGA came from a user who dissected the one-minute trailer for over an hour.
He watched it frame by frame.
Paused.
Rewound.
Zoomed in.
Then he wrote a massive breakdown post.
It gained thousands of likes within hours.
He began:
> "Good evening, everyone. I'm Baishitong. Although I couldn't attend Northstar's conference offline, watching online still stunned me…"
He analyzed the six announced games.
Four from the main studio.
Two from a newly established subsidiary under Northstar.
He even cautioned people not to overhype the outsourced titles.
Then he moved to the heavyweights.
"Pick Love" — promising.
"Pokemon" — untouchable fanbase.
"Fireworks" — highly praised internally, likely a hit.
And then—
2077.
> "The graphics, the modeling, the environments, the sound design — you could tell me this was footage from a 3D film and I'd believe it."
> "For a moment I thought it was live-action."
Then came the Easter egg breakdown.
He pointed out Maelstrom members recognizable from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
He noticed the David Martinez drink reference.
And finally, he wrote something that made the entire comment section explode:
> "It's confirmed. David Martinez is dead."
He explained:
The bartender clearly said there are no living legends in Night City.
Only the playable character is an exception.
The man next to V said drinks are named after those who die legendary deaths.
And Jackie ordered a "David Martinez."
Conclusion?
David died at seventeen.
He never reached adulthood.
He never took Lucy to the moon.
But—
Maybe players could avenge him in 2077.
The post ended with:
> "Two months until March. How am I supposed to survive this wait?!"
The replies below were pure chaos.
"AHHHHHHH."
"Release it now!"
"Take my money!"
And buried among the comments—
One simple reply:
"Ah ah ah ah."
It was Ethan.
Yes.
He was reading.
Of course he was.
From the moment he and Vivian Frost returned to the office, Ethan had been monitoring public reactions.
NGA was the largest player forum in the country.
Ignoring it would be foolish.
---
The Jackie Problem
The final bar scene in the trailer?
That was Ethan's deliberate adaptation.
In the original narrative logic of the universe, Jackie Welles' death always felt abrupt.
One bullet.
Car escape.
Gone.
But Ethan had a problem with that.
This was 2077.
A world of cyberware.
People replaced organs casually.
In Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, David Martinez underwent multiple body replacements.
Was Jackie really running around with factory-default organs?
An experienced merc who navigated the underworld for years?
It didn't add up.
Unless—
Jackie was simply unlucky.
And yes.
Night City was unreasonable.
Gloria died.
Pilar died.
Random grenades killed legends.
That was the point.
But Ethan wasn't rewriting the world.
He was deepening it.
Because there was a bigger issue.
Outsiders believed Jackie and V assassinated Saburo Arasaka.
They didn't know Yorinobu was the true killer.
From the public's perspective, Jackie's name carried weight.
But players?
Players had a god's-eye view.
They knew the truth.
So Ethan added an alternate possibility.
In this version—
Jackie doesn't have to die.
But if he survives—
He also fails to become the legend he dreamed of.
Meanwhile, V becomes a legend—
But only has one year left to live.
Then comes the real choice:
Die gloriously, handing your body to Johnny.
Or survive, stripping away cyberware, becoming an ordinary person unable to fight.
This was the heart of cyberpunk.
Not just high-tech, low-life.
But—
Ordinary people struggling against absolute power for an illusion of freedom.
Even if V defeats Adam Smasher.
Even if V becomes "King of Night City."
Compared to a megacorp like Arasaka?
Still an insect.
V is a glass cannon.
Powerful.
Unstable.
A grenade can still end him.
That fragility is the theme.
---
What Is a Legend?
Ethan leaned back in his chair, smiling faintly.
People said there were no living legends in Night City.
But what about Rogue?
What about Morgan Blackhand?
What about Adam Smasher?
They were legends.
They just weren't on the Afterlife drink menu.
And that was the key.
Whether you are a legend or not—
Depends on who controls the narrative.
Rogue could put V's name on the menu with one sentence.
Power defines legacy.
"Night City may not have living legends," Ethan muttered softly.
"But it can have living Kings of Hell."
He closed his laptop.
Outside the office window, the city lights reflected faintly.
This year—
Northstar Games had an enormous mission.
2077 alone could change everything.
They would need more space.
More developers.
More funding.
Perhaps it was time to build their own headquarters building.
A true Northstar Tower.
But before that—
They needed to stabilize the release schedule.
"Pick Love" came first.
Time was running short.
Ethan rubbed his temples.
His head felt heavy.
He hadn't fully recovered from his cold.
But he smiled anyway.
Because for the first time—
The industry wasn't laughing.
It was watching.
And waiting.
March was coming.
And when players finally stepped into Night City themselves—
That would be the real battlefield.
---
Next chapter — the pressure begins to rise.
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