While the second season of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners takes place after the events of CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077, its showrunner, Bartosz Sztybor, has stated that the anime is not intended to canonize any specific ending of the choice-driven RPG. This decision aims to avoid invalidating the diverse player experiences within the game.
Fans have speculated about the inclusion of V, the player character from Cyberpunk 2077, in the new season. One scene features a character in an Arasaka database alongside other cyberware-compatible individuals, with some believing it to be V. However, Sztybor told IGN that such interpretations are purely fan speculation and that the show deliberately avoids directly addressing V's fate.
"We don’t want to set a canon ending," Sztybor explained. "So there were a lot of conversations again with the lore team to see what we can do to somehow satisfy all the endings, and what will be the state of the world after the game. That’s why the scene that you asked about, we don’t want to be straightforward, but we are giving some suggestions that will probably reveal the state of the world in more comic books and other stuff."
Sztybor further noted that during the creation of the first Edgerunners season and related merchandise, the established canon was set before the events of Cyberpunk 2077. For the post-game period, the lore is less detailed, with the main canonical information being that Arasaka is weakened. This less defined state allows for creative freedom without committing to a specific game outcome.
This approach respects player agency by not declaring any one ending as definitive. For instance, Rogue, a character who can die in certain game endings, appeared in the first season of Edgerunners but not the second, likely due to the implications of her potential fate in Cyberpunk 2077. By omitting characters with multiple possible outcomes, the creators ensure that all fans can enjoy the anime without feeling their personal game choices are invalidated.
CD Projekt Red is currently developing Cyberpunk 2, and it remains to be seen if this principle of respecting all potential endings will continue in future game installments.