Looks Like The Game Still Has Problems
After seven long years, Cyberpunk 2077 finally launches today, but that launch isn’t without criticism. In fact, Cyberpunk 2077 developers CD Projekt Red have faced a lot of criticism recently, whether it’s for their unethical business practices or for the fact that the game may cause epileptic seizures in players, but with the release of the game letting more people explore the game – and come across objectionable content.
Unfortunately, despite their best intentions, CD Projekt Red have found criticism from the trans community. The game already drew criticism a few months ago for a questionable poster that seemingly paints being trans as a trend, but now that the game is out they have a new reason to be upset – namely, the customization options.
Cyberpunk 2077 has touted itself as having the most diverse customization system of all time, right down to letting you customize your genitals. While the genitals don’t determine V’s gender identity, which should be groundbreaking, V”s gender identity is determined by their voice: Only a V who identifies as male can have a deep voice, whereas only a female V can have a high voice. This perpetuates the harmful idea of clocking – that is, that there are certain features or traits by which you can automatically gauge someone’s gender identity. It also ignores the fact that changing your voice often involves either hormone therapy or surgery – which occur well into a person’s transition – as well as the fact that every trans or non-binary person’s journey is different, and as such someone’s voice doesn’t determine their gender any more than their genitals.
Unfortunately, the trans community is one of the most vulnerable to hate crimes, so it’s understandably upsetting to many within the community to see such ideas being perpetuated in such a big release, especially given that elsewhere in the game the trans community is seemingly fetishized, if it’s present at all. Elsewhere in the game you can find femme characters with transparent (and disproportionately large) penises, leading to concerns that the trans community is being objectified by the game.
This isn’t the first game this year that’s drawn criticism for transphobia – Hogwarts: Legacy has similarly faced calls for a boycott due to JK Rowling’s transphobia – so hopefully CDPR address the criticism in future DLC and work to make the game more inclusive.
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