TECHNOLOGICAL DISRUPTIONS: The Interplay of Subjective Flaws and Virtual Space

CHAPTER 2.3: GLITCHES WITH PURPOSE

Cyberpunk 2077’s future is introduced through uncertainty, and a major part of that uncertainty stems from the ephemeral nature of its ubiquitous technology. Silicon, LEDs, and wires are the lifeblood of Night City—but they give no reason to be trusted. They might fade from functionality into brokenness at any time. Though the citizens of Night City are dressed in neo-eighties outfits, calling on the visuals of classic cyberpunk media from that time period, the flatscreens and smartphones that are littered through the environment are not referencing the same era. Technology and glitches in Cyberpunk 2077 are as visual, as visceral, and as digital as possible. They have much more in common with technological malfunctions we see today than anything analog.

In a real world context, a flickering screen would be an unwanted anomaly. Something to be banished. It is due to this very aspect of the digital glitch that it is evoked throughout Cyberpunk 2077. Night City is meant to be an open world playground of uncertain enemies, violent hacking, and convoluted weaponry for the players. To put it simply, there is something intentionally wrong with the virtual world’s urban fabric. As with most cyberpunk settings, things (societal expectations, technological devices, morals) are meant to be broken, and usually they already are. The game developers have taken part in what almost seems like a controlled demolition within their game world, inserting decay and failure to legitimize their take on cyberpunk.

There is something unpredictable embedded within the game space, harboring the same type of elusiveness and malice that was once only relegated to the supernatural. In “Loving the Ghost in the Machine: Aesthetics of Interruption,” philosophy professor Janne Vanhanen explored how glitches have come to represent something nearly supernatural in contemporary society. He stated that ever since complex machinery was integrated into society, “[the] presence of some outside force has always been supposed to be apparent through interference and interruption” (Vanhanen). As we speculate about supernatural disturbances being forces beyond a mortal veil, we are also given a peek into a different realm of the beyond through glitches. Instead of glitches revealing the forces of the afterlife, they are a glimpse into the multi-layered digital systems that are the foundations of our contemporary world.

And yet in Night City, glitches do not seem to be a universal experience. In the trailers and demos released so far, there is a lingering focus on the impoverished areas. When the protagonist crosses over into a poor neighborhood, voice-over narration will spend time emphasizing the danger and unpredictability of the infrastructure and inhabitants (CD Projekt Red). This is hammered home through the constant sound of gunshots in the background and the maze of concrete walls plastered with graffiti and flickering neon signs. The instability implied through glitch aesthetics is also implemented. It seems that the very presence of poorer areas—usually associated with non-White characters—evokes virtual failure.

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