The short version: Night City got two new doors in one week. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2, a standalone ten-episode anime from Studio Trigger and CD Projekt Red, premiered on Netflix on October 20, 2026. Two days later, CD Projekt Red shipped the free Edgerunners 2 Update (2.5) for Cyberpunk 2077, with a new side quest called Clampdown that is set before the show begins and puts you alongside one of its four leads. You can watch the story, then walk into the city it came from and live the chapter just before it.
The show is ten episodes of 24 to 28 minutes, rated TV-MA, in Japanese with an English dub. The game update is free on PC, Mac, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, with Nintendo Switch 2 listed as coming soon. Prices and how to get both are at the end, checked October 23.
What is Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 about?
It is not a continuation of the first season. David Martinez’s story ended where it ended, and CD Projekt Red said as early as October 2022 that a second outing would be something completely different. Edgerunners 2 opens in 2078, a year after the events of Cyberpunk 2077, with four new leads whose paths cross in the worst possible way.
Roman Carax is a twelve-year-old amateur filmmaker who records life in Night City with a camera. In a world where braindances let you live someone else’s memories directly, Roman prefers film, because a screen leaves room for interpretation. He is the ensemble’s witness.
The other three carry the fight. Talia Yang is a heavily chromed runaway from the Kang Tao corporation who fights hard and fixes cyberware. D is a brooding netrunner with a red scar across his face, a Nomad hunting whoever killed his clan, carrying a digital passenger named Capri in his system. And Weak “King” Kingsley is a towering former edgerunner who has lost most of his chrome and much of his reputation, hired to bring Talia back from the Maelstrom gang. A datashard with unpredictable power ties their paths together and draws the attention of criminals and megacorporations alike.
Netflix pitches the season as a story of redemption and revenge, and that is a fair summary of its shape: four people with nothing left to lose, moving toward each other through a city that does not care whether any of them survive.
Who made Edgerunners 2?
Studio Trigger animates again, this time under director Kai Ikarashi, taking over from Hiroyuki Imaishi, who directed the first season. Bartosz Sztybor, the CD Projekt Red writer who shaped the first series, returns as showrunner and story writer, sharing screenplay credit with Masahiko Otsuka. Tsuneo Imahori composes the score.
The music choices tell you a lot about the tone. The opening theme is “10:15 Saturday Night” by The Cure, a 1978 track, and it is an inspired pick. Cyberpunk grew up alongside post-punk, and The Cure’s sparse, restless early sound, all nervous guitar and dread, fits a city where four strangers are each waiting for something to break. The ending is “Watson” by Petite Meller, and the teasers leaned on Rico Nasty’s “You Can’t Run From Me,” written for the series. The soundtrack and score went up on streaming services on premiere day.
The English cast is led by Clancy Brown as King, a casting fans greeted warmly when the English cast was revealed around Anime Expo this summer, alongside Nazeeh Tarsha as D, Kimoy Lee as Talia and Valeria Rodriguez as Roman. In Japanese, Kentaro Tone voices King, Koki Uchiyama plays D, Akari Kitō plays Talia and Momoka Terasawa plays Roman.
Is Edgerunners 2 as good as the first season?
The honest answer from the first week of reviews is that it is bigger, darker and more scattered, and critics disagree about whether that trade works.
The enthusiasts are enthusiastic. Joshua Martin at Winter is Coming gave it 9 out of 10, praised Trigger’s deep blacks and rough, angular linework, singled out a riot sequence as a highlight, and summed up the city’s mood in one line: “Night City has no happy endings for anybody.” Mashable’s Crystal Bell read the season as a love letter to filmmaking, a reading that Roman’s camera, one of the four threads, makes easy to see. IGN’s Rafael Motamayor praised the worldbuilding, the shifting visual styles and a satisfying final act, while finding it less monumental than David’s story.
The skeptics have a consistent complaint. Kenneth Shepard at Kotaku found the three threads too loosely connected and the city too much of a backdrop, while still praising the animation, the voice cast and the gleefully gruesome action. Isaiah Colbert at Gizmodo thought it overreached, with too many storylines for its runtime, though he too loved how it looks and sounds.
Read together, the reviews point to how to watch it. The first half lays out separate lives that barely touch; the payoff, by most accounts, arrives when those lives finally collide in the closing episodes. If you go in expecting a slow convergence rather than a single tragic arc, the structure becomes part of the pleasure.
What does the Cyberpunk 2077 Edgerunners 2 update add?
The centerpiece is Clampdown, a new side quest set before the events of the show. According to CD Projekt Red’s official update notes, it unlocks once you have finished The Heist and two gigs for the fixer Wakako, after which she sends you a message. Xbox Wire’s launch post, written by CD Projekt Red PR manager Joao De Mello, adds that V works the job alongside King and his crew at a new location, Night City Prison. The reward is a five-piece gear set based on King, and Xbox Wire names his signature revolver, Coronation, among the tie-ins.
That makes Clampdown the rare tie-in that is genuinely part of the story rather than a costume drop. It shows you King before the show finds him, which changes how his first scenes on Netflix land.
Around it, the update reshapes how V fights and looks:
Dual wielding. A new perk in the Cool tree, Double Trouble, plus four supporting perks, lets you carry a Power pistol or revolver in each hand. CD Projekt Red’s Xbox Wire post calls it the biggest combat addition since throwing knives arrived in Update 2.0, and Photo Mode gets new dual-wield poses to show it off.
Glamdocs. Five new shops, marked on the map with a spray-paint icon, restyle your hand cyberware: Mantis Blades, Gorilla Arms, Monowire and the Projectile Launch System. Each shop has its own introduction scene, voice work and catalog of skins with custom colors. In a city where the body is the fashion, this is the update that finally lets your chrome match your jacket.
New clothes and hair. Four district-themed outfit collections from Night City’s in-world brands arrive now, with a fifth to come later, along with hairstyles that were previously worn only by non-player characters.
HKGN 102.0 FM. A new radio station plays tracks from both Edgerunners series, so the show’s soundtrack can follow you down the highway.
Welcome to Paradise. A second new side quest unlocks after The Heist once you reach Street Cred level 15. It is a guided tour of the city narrated by Richard Night, the founder Night City is named after, and the official notes promise a mystery buried in it.
Twelve new tarot cards. The Minor Arcana join the existing Fool on the Hill hunt, with a reward for collecting all of them.
Can you use mods on PlayStation and Xbox now?
Yes, a curated selection. Update 2.5 adds cross-platform mod support through mod.io, browsable and installable from inside the game’s own menu on PC, Mac, PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro, Xbox Series X|S and, per the update notes, Nintendo Switch 2. CD Projekt Red says more mods will be added over time. Two cautions from the same notes: modded saves are marked with an icon, and on consoles you cannot earn trophies or achievements from a modded save.
The rest of the update is housekeeping that long-time players will appreciate: saves grouped by playthrough, filters for your apartment and vehicle stash, a field-of-view slider on consoles, DLSS 4.5 support on PC and improved HDR. Note that FSR 3 upscaling has been removed, with FSR 2.1, FSR 4 and FSR 3.1 Frame Generation remaining.
Should you watch first or play first?
Clampdown is a prequel, so the natural order is to play it first if you already have a save past The Heist. You will meet King before the show does, and his entrance on Netflix will carry more weight.
If you are coming to Night City for the first time through the anime, watch first. The show stands on its own, needs no knowledge of the game or the first season, and Clampdown will be waiting as a coda that fills in where King came from. Either way, the two pieces were clearly built to be enjoyed in the same week, and that is a rare treat for anyone who has spent time in this city. If you want the deeper history behind the districts you will be driving through, our look at the Night City 2045 sourcebook covers the city before the game.
How to get Edgerunners 2 and the Cyberpunk 2077 update
The show. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 streams only on Netflix, all ten episodes at once since October 20, 2026. It is rated TV-MA, with graphic violence throughout. You can watch it in the original Japanese with subtitles or in the full English dub, led by Clancy Brown as King; switch between them from the audio menu. Netflix’s US plans, per its plans page on October 23, are Standard with ads at $8.99 a month, Standard at $19.99 and Premium at $26.99. It is a standalone story; you do not need to have seen the first season.
The update. Update 2.5 is free for everyone who owns Cyberpunk 2077 on PC (Steam, GOG, Epic), Mac, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. CD Projekt Red lists the Nintendo Switch 2 and Mac App Store versions as following in the coming days. The update is not listed for PS4 or Xbox One; Xbox Wire notes the Xbox One version stopped receiving patches in 2022. The update notes list no Phantom Liberty requirement for Clampdown, which unlocks through The Heist and Wakako’s gigs in the base game.
The game, if you do not own it. On Steam, checked October 23, Cyberpunk 2077 is $17.99, down 70 percent from $59.99, and the Phantom Liberty expansion is $17.99, down from $29.99. Steam lists the promotion as ending October 26.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 a sequel to the first season?
No. It is a standalone ten-episode story with a new cast, set in Night City in 2078. It follows Roman Carax, Talia Yang, D and Weak “King” Kingsley, and you can watch it without having seen the first season or played the game.
How many episodes does Edgerunners 2 have, and when did it come out?
Ten episodes, each running 24 to 28 minutes, all released on Netflix on October 20, 2026. It is rated TV-MA and available in Japanese with an English dub led by Clancy Brown as King.
How do I start the Clampdown quest in Cyberpunk 2077?
Install the free Update 2.5, finish the main job The Heist, then complete two gigs for the fixer Wakako and wait for her message. Clampdown is set before the events of the show and rewards a five-piece gear set based on King.
Is the Cyberpunk 2077 Edgerunners 2 update free?
Yes. Update 2.5 is free for all owners of Cyberpunk 2077 on PC, Mac, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, with Nintendo Switch 2 to follow. It is not listed for PS4 or Xbox One.
Are you playing Clampdown before you meet King on Netflix, or saving it for after the finale? Tell us in the comments.
