Idris Elba to star in new Cyberpunk DLC

A new expansion is coming to Cyberpunk 2077, and Idris Elba will star in it as a gruff federal agent alongside Keanu Reeves

Cyberpunk 2077 is getting a new DLC expansion next year, and in a surprising announcement at The Game Awards today, Idris Elba was announced to be starring in it.

Cyberpunk 2077, developed by The Witcher developer CD Projekt RED, has revealed more information about its upcoming The Phantom Liberty expansion in a new trailer. CD Projekt RED calls the expansion “a spy-thriller” filled with espionage and survival.

In the new trailer, debuted at The Game Awards 2022, we see legendary British actor and rapper Idris Elba, who’ll be taking the role of Solomon Reed, an FIA agent for the New United States of America. Keanu Reeves’ Johnny Silverhand will also be appearing in the DLC, after a stellar performance in the main game.

Cyberpunk 2077 has turned itself around in 2022 after a rocky launch in late-2020. It got a full next-gen treatment with the PS5 and Xbox Series versions of the game release, as well as an extremely well-received Netflix anime produced by Studio Trigger called Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners.

The Phantom Liberty DLC featuring Elba comes with a catch, though: it’ll only be released on new consoles and platforms — PC, Xbox Series consoles, and PS5. That said, it looks like the upgrade will be worth it, as the quality of the visuals on display in Phantom Liberty trailer looks to be a huge step up from anything that appeared in the base game, and likely couldn’t run in its current state on last-gen consoles.

Lighting, vehicles, weapons, and all of the characters, including Idris’ Solomon Reed, all look incredible in the new trailer, and fans will undoubtedly be excited to see what’s on offer when it finally releases. Idris and Keanu potentially bouncing off of one another in this new adventure should be a treat for fans, too.

The Cyberpunk 2077 DLC trailer debuted The Game Awards 2022 to much excitement from the audience. Picture: CD Projekt RED

No firm release date or window has been set yet, but Cyberpunk 2077: The Phantom Liberty is expected to launch sometime in 2023. As always with these things, that could change, but given how much CD Projekt seems to be pushing it lately, it seems like it will probably hit that window.

In other news, a gatecrasher was arrested at The Game Awards, after taking the mic during the show’s big presentation for its Game of the Year. The gatecrasher said some very strange things into the microphone for a short while, before being detained by security and subsequently arrested.

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.