CD Projekt Apologizes for Anti-Russian Slogans in Cyberpunk 2077
Update 2.0 for Cyberpunk 2077 includes a Ukrainian language version. As it turns out, it included some anti-Russian slogans. CD Projekt apologizes.
Released a few days ago update 2.0 introduced a host of new features to Cyberpunk 2077. These include the Ukrainian language version. Unfortunately, it was not without controversy - the translation team responsible for it smuggled some anti-Russian slogans into the game.
The analysis made by users of Zone of Games (via PC Gamer), shows that Ukrainian dialogue lines differ from the others (they were created based on the English version of the game) and contain quite a few references to the current political situation.
For example: one of the dialogues refers to a memorable conversation between Ukrainian soldiers stationed on Snake Island and the crew of a Russian warship demanding their surrender. As a result, in the game we can hear: "Russian warship, go f**k yourself""
In the course of another conversation, the phrase "Couldn't all these Ruskies [a derogatory term for Russians used by Ukrainians - editor's note] just duke it out in the Badlands. This is a subtle yet significant change from the English version, which reads, "Couldn't all those assholes just duke it out in the Badlands?"
Little, the game features distinctive graffiti, which is a reference to the 2014 Russian occupation of Crimea. In the graphic below you can see the shape of the Crimean peninsula, with the coat of arms of Ukraine and the symbol of the Crimean Tatars.
CD Projekt RED apologizes
Although CD Projekt RED has condemned the Russian military attack on Ukraine from the beginning (including by halting sales of its games in Russia and Belarus), it assured that it had nothing to do with the controversial content of the Ukrainian localization. At the same time, the developers issued an apology for the situation and promised to remove the content in the next update.
"Ukrainian localization of Cyberpunk 2077 contains several comments that may offend some Russian players. These comments were not written by CD Projekt RED employees and do not represent our views. We are working to fix them and replace them in the next update. We apologize for the situation and will do everything to make sure it doesn't happen again," the message from the devs reads.
Milk spilled...
The apology is unlikely to alleviate the agitation of Russian players, who accuse the Polish studio of "inciting" anti-Russian sentiment and open Russophobia.
"I believe that anyone who now buys a CD Project game is a moron who has no respect for either himself or our country. On the contrary, returns must be made, otherwise I will consider you national traitors (you do not convince me otherwise).
As part of the campaign, you need to prepare a collective appeal to Roskomnadzor [the Russian federal executive body responsible for monitoring, controlling and censoring the mass media there - editor's note]. and demand after such an attack a ban on the sale of Polish games, and even of Steam, because they cultivate Russophobia!," writes Bitter_Archer on CD Projekt RED forum.
The Ukrainian language version of Cyberpunk 2077 was prepared by SBT Localization, a company that previously worked on, among other things, Baldur's Gate 3, Darkest Dungeon and The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe.
