'Cyberpunk 2077' Developer CD Projekt Red Tackles 'Social Ladder' in Night City in Latest 'Frame by Frame’ Trailer Analysis

Earlier this month, CD Projekt Red debuted the latest cinematic video teaser for the much-awaited role-playing game “Cyberpunk 2077” at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2018. The scenes told a good story, but since it was just a trailer, many details were still kept hidden.

Luckily, CD Projekt Red is responding to the building curiosity around the game by officially discussing the trailer "frame by frame" in a series of blog posts. In a post published on Tuesday, CD Projekt Red talks about Night City and the “social ladder” that affects its people as depicted in the game’s cinematic trailer.

The developers offer a closer look at the underlying struggle between the ordinary people of Night City versus the high-profile individuals and megacorporations that run the chaotic fictional California city.

As main protagonist V mentioned in the trailer, Night City makes people dream despite the prevalent criminality and poverty. CD Projekt Reiterates that idea by stating that people in Night City “want to dream big” but “the verticality of the city represents the social ladder.”

In simpler words, the city is filled with sky-high buildings run by megacorporations that control the country. But it also somehow depicts the gap between the social status of the common people and those in power.

“People at the bottom are literally living on the streets. They look up to those inside high buildings, as they look at the common folk from above,” CD Projekt Red adds.

In a way, CD Projekt Red describes a social atmosphere in Night City where the people are encouraged to dream despite the unlikelihood of an easier life. The people are given crumbs of luxury by letting them have access to advanced technology but not to a more fortunate lifestyle.

“This is crucial to the overexposure of advertisement and jump-starting people’s dreams, which ultimately keeps them within the borders of Night City — in the trailer, we see exclusive fashion brands using holographic female models to show off their product line,” the developer adds.

The studio is unlikely going to announce anything new in this blog series. However, it is still interesting to learn something new about the game from time to time. In addition, it is a good distraction for those eagerly awaiting the announcement of “Cyberpunk 2077’s” exact release date.