Cyberpunk 2077 is Here and May Cause Seizures
CD Projekt Red first announced Cyberpunk 2077 May 2012 and fans have been waiting patiently ever since. From several release pushbacks due to Covid and turning away from the industry standard of crunch culture, Cyberpunk 2077 is finally ready to be released. There’s just one problem, so far that we can tell; Cyberpunk 2077 may cause seizures and does not currently have a warning for it.
Game Informer Associate Editor, Liana Ruppert reported having a grand mal seizure after playing a certain section of Cyberpunk 2077. She said that she also decided to continue to play through to write a guide “for players wanting to take part in this game for fear of missing out.”
Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world, action RPG based on the gritty, dystopian, tabletop roleplaying game by Mike Pondsmith. Futurism and the 1980s cyberpunk science fiction scene were heavy influences on the game. Bringing that to the video game, of course, means bringing on the heavy, neon lights of the 80s club scene, which can prove problematic for those with epilepsy, as blinking lights is one of the general triggers for seizures.
What caused Ruppert’s grand mal seizure, however, was the braindance. Braindance is a feature of the game that allows players to hook up to a mainframe and interact with other people’s memories, especially those of the deceased. The device that CD Projekt Red uses in Cyberpunk 2077 involves the same process neurologists use to trigger a seizure in patients.
When "suiting up" for a BD, especially with Judy, V will be given a headset that is meant to onset the instance. The headset fits over both eyes and features a rapid onslaught of white and red blinking LEDs, much like the actual device neurologists use in real life to trigger a seizure when they need to trigger one for diagnosis purposes. If not modeled off of the IRL design, it's a very spot-on coincidence, and because of that this is one aspect that I would personally advise you to avoid altogether. When you notice the headset come into play, look away completely or close your eyes. This is a pattern of lights designed to trigger an epileptic episode and it very much did that in my own personal playthrough.
CD Projekt Red Repsonds to Cypberpunk 2077 Causing Seizures
After the Game Informer article made the rounds, a trigger warning will be added to the game. Developers, CD Projekt Red tweeted a response to concerns about their game causing seizures, saying that they were “working on adding a separate warning in the game, aside from the one that exists in the EULA.”
There is no telling when a warning could be included with the game. For now, Liana Ruppert’s guide in Game Informer is pretty helpful. Also, please be mindful that many of the epileptic triggers humans have, so, too, do your pets. For this reason, I have to be extra careful with the games I select, as I have an epi-pup.
Cyberpunk 2077 officially releases December 10, 2020 to PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia. It will release to PS5 and Xbox Series X in 2021.
