The Cyberpunk 2077 soundtrack is, much like the game itself, poised to be one of the best of the year.
While composers Marcin Przybyłowicz, P. T. Adamczyk, Paul Leonard-Morgan are looking to surpass The Witcher 3‘s incredible original score, the real story of Cyberpunk 2077‘s soundtrack may be the game’s GTA-like radio stations and their lineups of licensed songs.
Of course, you may not initially realize that Cyberpunk 2077‘s soundtrack is loaded with licensed hits as a quick Spotify search for in-game bands like Window Weather, Bara Nova, and Tainted Overlord yields no relevant results. Well, that’s because all of the bands in Cyberpunk 2077 go by pseudonyms designed to better match the lore and style of the Cyberpunk universe. For instance, Run the Jewels is “Yankee and the Brave,” Nina Kraviz is “Bara Nova,” and Converge is “Shattered Void.”
Since many of the bands in the game wrote original songs for Cyberpunk 2077, the majority of the game’s tracks are unfortunately unavailable to listen to. The very good news is that the Cyberpunk 2077 team has already released the following playlist that includes six of the original songs you’ll find in the full game:
CD Project Red will also release two volumes of music from the upcoming game which will feature the following tracks:
Radio Volume 1:
01. Run the Jewels (Yankee and the Brave): “No Save Point”
02. SOPHIE / Shygirl (Clockwork Venus): “BM”
03. Le Destroy (The Bait): “Kill Kill”
04. Yugen Blakrok (Gorgon Madonna): “Metamorphosis”
05. Konrad Oldmoney (7 Facas): “Dinero” [ft. Cerbeus]
06. Deadly Hunta / Maro Music (Footage Missing): “When It’s War’
07. The Armed (Homeschool Dropouts): “Night City Aliens”
08. Converge (Shattered Void): “I Won’t Let You Go”
09. Aligns (Rubicones): “Friday Night Fire Fight”
10. Tomb Mold (Bacillus): “Adaptive Manipulator”
11. Deafkids (Tainted Overlord): “Selva Pulsátil”
Radio Volume 2:
01. Namakopuri (Us Cracks): “PonPon Shit”
02. Grimes (Lizzy Wizzy): “Delicate Weapon”
03. Rat Boy (IBDY): “Who’s Ready for Tomorrow”
04. HEALTH (Window Weather): “Major Crimes”
05. Rosa Walton (Hallie Coggins): “I Really Want to Stay at Your House”
06. Nina Kraviz (Bara Nova): “Surprise Me, I’m Surprised Today”
07. Raney Shockne (Point Break Candy): “Hole in the Sun” [f. COS and Conway]
08. Gazelle Twin (Trash Generation): “History”
09. Poloz (Tinnitus): “On My Way to Hell”
Cyberpunk 2077 is clearly loaded with electric sounds, but the game’s composers have stated that they’re actually going for a “90s attitude” inspired by “Rage Against the Machine, Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails” and others. It’s a fascinating approach that should result in an undeniably memorable soundtrack that so happens to double as a fantastic examination of this universe and how the music scene in this world arrived at the point we find it in at the start of the game.
One other thing that’s certainly worth pointing out is that Cyberpunk 2077 will feature a unique streaming mode that changes the licensed tracks in the game to unlicensed songs. This move seems to be in response to the recent DMCA takedowns that have impacted Twitch and forced many streamers to delete their old videos to avoid copyright claims typically related to licensed music played on-stream and in games.