Post
One of the critiques I've heard of Cyberpunk 2077 is that it doesn't have much to say, directly, about capitalism. By and large characters (including the player) aren't focused on the economic system, they're focused on the products of it: a corpo war, gang violence, health care.
Like #cyberpunk novels, Cyberpunk 2077 builds a world and leaves the viewer draw conclusions. But sometimes it has characters address the theme directly. Take this speach from Johnny Silverhand in Act 2:
"I saw corpos strip farmers of water and eventually of land, saw them transform Night City into a machine fueled by people's crushed spirits broken dreams and emptied pockets. Corpos have long controlled our lives, taken lots...and now they're after our souls... i've declared war not cause capitalism's a thorn in my side or out of nostalgia for an America gone by. This war is a people's war against a system that spiraled out our control."
It's interesting to me that the writers had Johnny explicitly say, "I'm not angry about capitalism, I'm angry about oppression." He turned terrorist, not because the system is inherently flawed, but because "spiraled out of control".
#Cyberpunk2077 builds a world in which people are oppressed, and leaves the viewer reason out why. For better or for worse, game story doesn't speak to the root cause of the dystopia - they are more interested in characters reactions.
@derek
Maybe they were aware of the optics of getting really rich from a game criticizing capitalism?
The other dialog that I think speaks to this comes from a character who is entirely bought in to the Corpo world: Takemura.
Takemura is a true believer. He was elevated from poverty to high status by Arasaka. He believes that, eventually, given enough time and power, Corpos will save rest of the world too.
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