Cyberpunk 2077

2020catchphrase / delay memeclassic

Cyberpunk 2077 is CD Projekt RED's futuristic open-world RPG that released December 10, 2020 after a seven-year hype cycle and three separate delays in the same calendar year. The buggy launch, the endless waiting, and the studio's signature yellow delay messages turned the title into internet shorthand for vaporware jokes, glitch slang, and the Delay Message Parodies template.

cyberpunk memesgamingexploitable templatesslang memes2020 memes

Overview

Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world action RPG developed by Polish studio CD Projekt RED for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, set in a futuristic megalopolis called Night City3. Players move through the story in first-person and third-person perspectives, taking on the role of a mercenary named V. The official Cyberpunk.net site now frames the game as one entry in a wider fiction that also includes the Phantom Liberty expansion and the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime series4.

The title itself grew into a meme independent of the actual game. Between 2013 and 2020 the project sat in development so long that the name turned into a punchline about vaporware, and by launch it doubled as slang for anything laggy or glitchy in any other title5. Urban Dictionary contributors defined 'Cyberpunk 2077' as 'a game that will never be released' and as a term used 'to describe a glitchy or laggy instance' in unrelated games like Skyrim5.

The December 10, 2020 launch was rough enough that CD Projekt RED had to add a dedicated seizure warning for the game's Braindance sequences after Game Informer's Liana Ruppert flagged the trigger risk2. The Braindance issue, plus a separate E3 2019 in-fiction advertisement flap covered by Polygon, kept the game in the news cycle for reasons the studio never wanted1.

How It Spread

The next major public beat came at E3 2018, where CD Projekt RED showed a second trailer on June 10, 2018 that hit 7.9 million views and 28,200 YouTube comments inside 72 hours3. Press got a closed-door 50-minute gameplay demo, and Game Informer published a full breakdown on June 123. A year earlier, on June 8, 2017, the studio had tweeted that unidentified hackers stole 'early designs' and were demanding ransom, a stunt that pulled 48,900 likes and 23,400 retweets in a single day3.

E3 2019 brought fresh attention and fresh controversy. Polygon reported that an in-fiction advertisement inside Nvidia's ray tracing showcase featured a soft drink called ChroManticore with the tagline '16 flavours you'd love to mix' and a trans model in the poster, sparking argument over CDPR's intent1. Art director Kasia Redesiuk defended the ad in a sit-down interview at the show1.

Then came the release date shuffle that broke the internet's patience. CDPR moved the launch from April 2020 to September 17, then to November 19, then to December 10 in a final announcement on October 27, 20203. Every shift came in the same yellow-background developer statement, and fans turned that visual into the Cyberpunk 2077 Delay Message Parodies template3. When the game finally shipped on December 10, 2020, IGN's coverage focused less on the story and more on the seizure warning that CD Projekt Red only added to the PC version at launch2.

How to Use This Meme

Two overlapping formats survived the release cycle. The Delay Message Parodies template swaps the body of CDPR's signature yellow developer announcement for absurd apologies or fake postponements of unrelated things3. As slang, dropping 'Cyberpunk 2077' in chat is a way to call out a bug or physics glitch in any other game, per Urban Dictionary usage examples that aim the term at Skyrim moments where deer fly and boats explode5.

Frequently Asked Questions

Cyberpunk 2077

2020catchphrase / delay memeclassic

Cyberpunk 2077 is CD Projekt RED's futuristic open-world RPG that released December 10, 2020 after a seven-year hype cycle and three separate delays in the same calendar year. The buggy launch, the endless waiting, and the studio's signature yellow delay messages turned the title into internet shorthand for vaporware jokes, glitch slang, and the Delay Message Parodies template.

cyberpunk memes gaming exploitable templates slang memes 2020 memes

Overview

Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world action RPG developed by Polish studio CD Projekt RED for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, set in a futuristic megalopolis called Night City3. Players move through the story in first-person and third-person perspectives, taking on the role of a mercenary named V. The official Cyberpunk.net site now frames the game as one entry in a wider fiction that also includes the Phantom Liberty expansion and the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime series4.

The title itself grew into a meme independent of the actual game. Between 2013 and 2020 the project sat in development so long that the name turned into a punchline about vaporware, and by launch it doubled as slang for anything laggy or glitchy in any other title5. Urban Dictionary contributors defined 'Cyberpunk 2077' as 'a game that will never be released' and as a term used 'to describe a glitchy or laggy instance' in unrelated games like Skyrim5.

The December 10, 2020 launch was rough enough that CD Projekt RED had to add a dedicated seizure warning for the game's Braindance sequences after Game Informer's Liana Ruppert flagged the trigger risk2. The Braindance issue, plus a separate E3 2019 in-fiction advertisement flap covered by Polygon, kept the game in the news cycle for reasons the studio never wanted1.

How It Spread

The next major public beat came at E3 2018, where CD Projekt RED showed a second trailer on June 10, 2018 that hit 7.9 million views and 28,200 YouTube comments inside 72 hours3. Press got a closed-door 50-minute gameplay demo, and Game Informer published a full breakdown on June 123. A year earlier, on June 8, 2017, the studio had tweeted that unidentified hackers stole 'early designs' and were demanding ransom, a stunt that pulled 48,900 likes and 23,400 retweets in a single day3.

E3 2019 brought fresh attention and fresh controversy. Polygon reported that an in-fiction advertisement inside Nvidia's ray tracing showcase featured a soft drink called ChroManticore with the tagline '16 flavours you'd love to mix' and a trans model in the poster, sparking argument over CDPR's intent1. Art director Kasia Redesiuk defended the ad in a sit-down interview at the show1.

Then came the release date shuffle that broke the internet's patience. CDPR moved the launch from April 2020 to September 17, then to November 19, then to December 10 in a final announcement on October 27, 20203. Every shift came in the same yellow-background developer statement, and fans turned that visual into the Cyberpunk 2077 Delay Message Parodies template3. When the game finally shipped on December 10, 2020, IGN's coverage focused less on the story and more on the seizure warning that CD Projekt Red only added to the PC version at launch2.

How to Use This Meme

Two overlapping formats survived the release cycle. The Delay Message Parodies template swaps the body of CDPR's signature yellow developer announcement for absurd apologies or fake postponements of unrelated things3. As slang, dropping 'Cyberpunk 2077' in chat is a way to call out a bug or physics glitch in any other game, per Urban Dictionary usage examples that aim the term at Skyrim moments where deer fly and boats explode5.

Frequently Asked Questions