Cyberpunk 2077 Is Somehow Still Getting Free Updates, Adds New Character Creator Options And More

Cyberpunk 2077 is four years old today, and CD Projekt Red is celebrating with a surprise patch for its open-world RPG that’s out now. The team held a live stream to run down some of the big changes coming in patch 2.2, which comes over a year after the Phantom Liberty expansion, 2.0 overhaul, and the big romance update. It sounds like this is supposed to be the final update for Cyberpunk 2077, but CDPR has already said it wasn’t working on the game anymore and yet here I am writing about another patch, so who knows? For now, let’s break down what’s new in Night City.

The new patch was developed in collaboration with Virtuous, and is primarily focused on player expression. The patch is nicknamed “Express Yourself” and includes new vehicle customization options such as color and hue changes that you can apply from any location at any time. You can also scan any of the cars you see throughout the game to add patterns and paint jobs to your vehicles, so now you don’t have to steal a car you like off the street. Changing your colors and patterns on the fly will also help you escape a police chase if you’re on the run.

I typically drive motorcycles in Cyberpunk 2077, so most of this is nothing to me. However, CD Projekt Red also confirmed that Johnny Silverhand will now sometimes spawn in your passenger seat when driving and will have reactions to things like you crashing your car or just staring at him too long. Keanu Reeves reaching his true potential as a passenger princess.

The game’s already excellent photo mode has also been updated, with the biggest change being that the camera is no longer locked to the player’s position, and can now enter a drone mode that freely flies around an area. The collision between the camera and characters and environments is also gone, which opens up a lot of options for the shots you can take. New aspect ratio options are also being added, but only on PC due to technical limitations. The coolest addition, however, is the option to spawn different NPCs while in photo mode, which you can then pose to take pictures with alongside your V. Whatever pictures you take can now also be framed and displayed in your apartment. Be right back, I’m gonna take some pics with my boyfriend Kerry and put them up all over my apartment.

On top of all this, CD Projekt Red has added over 100 new assets to the character creator, including new eye options, faceplates, makeup, nail polish, tattoos, and more. The full patch notes are as follows:

New Features

Rayfield’s CrystalCoat™ technology, initially designed for Rayfield vehicles only, has now been adopted by other car manufacturers. You can now change the paint jobs on Herrera, Mizutani, Quadra and Villefort vehicles. Pro tip: Use CrystalCoat™ to fool the cops and lower your NCPD wanted level!

Kiroshi presents TWINTONE™! As CrystalCoat™ continues to in gain popularity, TWINTONE™ takes your paint jobs to the next level. Simply scan a car with your Kiroshi optics, switch to the TWINTONE™ tab, then save the vehicle’s color scheme for a small fee. You’ll then be able to select the scheme in the TWINTONE™ database under the CrystalCoat™ menu. There, you’ll also find generic color schemes for all CrystalCoat™-compatible vehicles as well as unique color schemes exclusive to the vehicle model from which they were copied. Please note that color scheme cloning is not authorized on vehicles that are linked to quests, belong to the NCPD or that are incompatible with CrystalCoat™ tech.

All vehicles compatible with CrystalCoat™ and TWINTONE™ are marked with a spray can icon on Autofixer.

The ten most requested vehicles from the streets of Night City are now available for purchase on Autofixer:

Mizutani Shion MZ1

Mizutani Shion Targa MZT

Thorton Galena GA32t

Thorton Colby CST40

Archer Quartz EC-L r275

Quadra Type-66 640 TS

Quadra Type-66 680 TS

Mizutani Hozuki MH2

Villefort Deleon V410-S Coupe (Phantom Liberty only)

Mahir Supron FS3-T (Phantom Liberty only)

Following Act 1, Johnny will now sometimes appear in the passenger seat while V is driving to comment on and react to what’s happening.

We’ve overhauled Photo Mode and added multiple community-requested features:

Drone Camera is now a free camera instead of an orbital camera centered around V.

Increased camera range.

Full Collision (ON/OFF) – determines whether the camera respects in-game object collisions.

Lock Camera (ON/OFF) – locks the camera to avoid misclicking and ruining the frame.

Precise Camera (ON/OFF) – slows the camera down for easier aiming.

Aspect Ratio (PC-only. Custom-resolution screenshots are not available on consoles. Console systems can only export images in the standard 16:9 format.)

Characters tab: Spawn up to 3 NPCs for your photo, with a list of over 20 characters to choose from. You can adjust their expression, pose and position.

Lighting tab: Spawn and adjust light sources.

Fixed the Depth of Field ghosting issue.

Added an Effect Intensity slider

SmartFrames™ by Kiroshi allows you to display your Photo Mode shots in-game by interacting with the picture frames in V’s apartments. Browse your photo collection in the new Gallery menu tab located alongside Journal, Shards and Tarot. The Gallery pulls .png images from the screenshots folder on your PC or from your console gallery. For more details on SmartFrames™ and the Gallery, see this Support article

Added more character customization options:

32 eye colors

18 lip makeup types

17 nail colors

10 cheek makeup types

16 eye makeup types

4 face scars

5 eyebrow shapes

4 face tattoos

2 body tattoos

8 cosmetic face cyberware options

Upgraded the Character Creator randomizer to feature a new Plain-to-Punk slider. Whether you’re aiming for an understated, casual look or a bold, edgy style for your V, you can now use the slider to strike the perfect balance.

Added more secrets to discover in Night City.

Quests & Open World

Rephrased objectives for quests that tell you to wait a specific amount of time to progress. The game is designed in a way that doesn’t always allow players to simply skip in-game time to advance the objective, instead requiring them continue playing to trigger the next event.

Cyberpsycho Sighting: Where the Bodies Hit the Floor – Fixed an issue where no shard could be found on the cyberpsycho’s body, blocking progress.

Dream On – The Trauma Team AV on the roof will now be properly hidden in stealth mode.

Heroes – Fixed an issue where the quest, despite being completed, could remain marked as incomplete in the Journal with the optional objectives “Talk to Padre” and “Talk to the Valentinos.”

Phantom Liberty-Specific

Balls to the Wall – Fixed an issue where it was impossible to exit the elevator and talk to Yuri because of an invisible wall.

Firestarter – Fixed an issue where fast travel could be blocked if the player saved the game soon after exiting Reed’s car.

Gig: Waiting for Dodger – After being freed, Bill and Charles will now be more mindful of their driving and avoid running over Dodger’s goons, preventing any unnecessary combat.

Hi Ho Silver Lining – The VIP section in the Heavy Hearts club will now be accessible to players who couldn’t meet with Mr. Hands due to a keycard being required to use the elevator.

I’ve Seen That Face Before – The garage door preventing players from reaching the meeting point will now be open.

Run This Town – The elevator in the Heavy Hearts club is now back in service, so V can finally meet with Mr. Hands.

Somewhat Damaged – Fixed an issue where the prompt to unplug the cables from the Neural Network system was missing.

The Killing Moon – Fixed the issue of a wall blocking the path when carrying Songbird to the shuttle.

Gameplay

Fixed one of the katana finisher animations so that it properly decapitates enemies.

Iconic Synapse Burnout and Iconic System Collapse quickhacks will now be properly affected by the RAM cost reduction buff.

The icons for Tier 5+ and 5++ Behavioral Imprint-synced Faceplate will now be visible on the HUD while driving.

Fixed an issue causing the Synaptic Accelerator to stay active indefinitely if the player is detected while not in combat.

The car horn will no longer honk when the player reloads a weapon during vehicle combat while playing with a controller.

Fixed an issue where the NCPD could stop functioning properly after V engages in a shootout in Pacifica between the Voodoo Boys and Trauma Team.

Miscellaneous

Fixed an issue where TV program sound was muted or too quiet.

Fixed an issue where CrystalCoat™did not apply properly after entering a vehicle.

Due to popular demand, we’ve lowered the Trauma Drama high scores.

Adjusted V’s mouth movement in various scenes, including the endings.

Fixed the issue of voiceover cutoff during the Ebunike station announcement on NCART.

Fixed ray-traced shadows for V in Photo Mode.

PC-Specific

You will now be able to properly rebind W and S to different actions other than their default settings in the Vehicle category.

Optimized threading system to improve performance by up to 33% on Intel Arrow Lake based CPUs.

Added more Razer Chroma effects for some sections in Phantom Liberty and romance scenes.