CD Projekt Red Expresses Regret Over Offensive Content in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

The creators of The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red, have issued an apology following complaints about anti-Russian content in the Ukrainian version of their latest release, Phantom Liberty. 

The offensive content includes: 

• - A bandit group named 'Rusnia', a derogatory term for Russians; reference to Ukraine retaking the Crimean peninsula through graffiti in Night City;
• - 'Slav Squat' pose labelled 'Like a Russian'; 
• - And a dialogue insinuating an offensive phrase in conjunction with the sinking of a Russian ship by Ukraine. 

CDPR's representative Mariia Strilchuk responded to the controversy on Twitter, clarifying that the offensive material arose from translation errors, not malicious intent, and expressed continued support for Ukraine. 

Radek Grabowski, CDPR's global head of PR, revealed to Rockpapershotgun that the anti-Russian content was a result of outsourced writing, which the studio will be correcting in the next update. The company is making plans to prevent such situations in the future.