This week, I finally get to announce something that’s been in the works for a long time.
It’s a card game, a physical one, like with actual cards you can hold. A co-op, campaign-based story game set in Night City — the sprawling, brutal, neon future imagined by Cyberpunk 2020, 2077, and Red. And now, us.
The game is called Cyberpunk Legends, and it’s the first release from my new studio, Night Crew Games.
We’ve been building it in secret for a while — writing stories, commissioning artwork, designing mechanics, weaving puzzle logic, shaping the world. My lifelong friend James Portnow (best known for Extra History and Extra Credits) is the madman behind it, our founder and creative director who wrote it and designed its novel mechanics and twisty story.
Last year, he brought me on board as Night Crew’s art director, and I’ve had the honor of working with a ton of incredible artists and studios all around the world to commission and create the illustrations and visual design. This is what I’ve been doing at all hours when the world felt like it was ending. It’s weirdly hopeful. It’s also violent, stylish, and a little dangerous.
It’s for people who love tabletop RPGs but don’t always have the time or energy to prep…like those of us who have jobs and kids and lives and friends who are always busy….and for people who’ve ever wanted to hack a corpo system with their crew in a diner at 3 in the morning.
Stepping away from my tech career was scary but absolutely felt like the right thing to do, and I’ve always been an artist, a storyteller, and a person who wants to create stuff that matters to people. I am beyond excited to be putting energy into creating something gorgeous, high quality, original, and real: a game that connects people offline, challenges and inspires them to imagine alternate futures, and brings a new expansion to a world so many people love.
Beneath all the style there’s an important underlying message that bears repeating loudly and often: The future still belongs to people — not corporations, and not machines.
You can check out Cyberpunk Legends here. We’re doing a limited first printing and building toward a Kickstarter launch, so if this is your thing, sign up. Or just share it with someone you think might love it.
Thanks for reading, and for being here. Can’t wait to play the game with you.
Creative juice
Finding, commissioning, and getting to know a bunch of super talented artists as we create this game has been a dream job these past few months so I’m gonna feature some of them.
Today, meet Rob Shields. He did this illustration ☝️ and more that will be used in Cyberpunk Legends. He’s an artist programmer living in Philadelphia and I am obsessed with his sexy edgy neon visions. He’s the artist, writer, and developer behind numerous AR comic books including the 2020 Auggie nominated Neon Wasteland. Follow him for more cool stuff coming soon, too.