An update today from Mike Pondsmith’s R. Talsorian Games urges us to stay safe in the streets and confirms that Cyberpunk RED is written.
The tabletop RPG is going through one final round of edits. You’ll have to wait before you see it in shops.
The game is a little late, not surprisingly due to the restrictions of the global pandemic, but also because it’s grown. It’s going to be twice as large as Cyberpunk 2020 core rules.
How come? Cyberpunk RED is both the sequel to Cyberpunk 2020 and the prequel to Cyberpunk 2077. It’s the same world, and as the lore continued to expand, Cyberpunk Red had to work hard to be the bridge between the iconic tabletop RPG and the highly anticipated cRPG.
R. Talsorian Games warns us that the printers have a large backlog to work through. That’s the fault of the pandemic again. More updates, they reassure, will be forthcoming.
Why not release Cyberpunk RED as a digital download first?
If the printers are a possible bottleneck then why doesn’t R. Talsorian Games release the game as an ebook or humble PDF? The Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart was a best seller at DriveThruRPG after all.
Here’s RTG’s answer;
This year hasn’t been kind to game retailers and distributors. We don’t kid ourselves that Cyberpunk RED will push anyone’s ledgers into the black by itself, but we want to give small businesses, many of whom stuck by us and kept selling our stuff when the world at large thought RTG was dead, as much of a fighting chance as we can. After all, we’re a small business ourselves. And yes, we’re aware some of the distributors and retailers who carry our stuff don’t fit the definition of “small business” but there’s many who do and that’s who we’re concerned about. The rest of the answer has to do with various market and business-related factors. This all may change if we feel circumstances warrant but, for right now, this is where we are on the matter.
Mike Pondsmith has the opening panel of PAX Online on Saturday, and Cyberpunk looks like it’ll be a dominant game in the week+ long virtual convention.
Are you planning on getting Cyberpunk RED as soon as it comes out? What do you hope you’ll see?
