--- title: "The Creator of Cyberpunk Game Says It’s a “Warning” About the Actual Future" description: "The creator of the board games on which the popular video game Cyberpunk 2077 is based told the BBC that the games should be a \"warning.\"" date: "2020-12-10" modified: "2020-12-10" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/creator-cyberpunk-warning-actual-future" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "cyberpunk" - "dystopia" - "gaming" - "the digest" --- # The Creator of Cyberpunk Game Says It’s a “Warning” About the Actual Future ![The creator of the board games on which the popular video game Cyberpunk 2077 is based told the BBC that the games should be a "warning."]() *\Image: CD Projekt Red\* ## Take Warning The long-awaited game Cyberpunk 2077 has finally dropped, and gamers everywhere are ready to dive into an action-packed thriller set in a dystopian world with uneasy similarities to our own. Interestingly, the game is based on a series of Dungeons and Dragons-like tabletop board games, branded as Cyberpunk, that date back to the late 1980s, created by game designer Mike Pondsmith — who's now offering his own analysis of their meaning. The games were meant as a "warning, not an aspiration," as Pondsmith [told the *BBC*](). "We shouldn't be hoping to get to this." ## Night City The gritty role playing game paints a grim picture of Night City, a fictional and expansive metropolis ripe with greedy megacorporations, illegal cybernetic enhancements, and plenty of violence to go around. But it's also a commentary, Pondsmith said, on society and our relationship with technology. "Cyberpunk is a dystopian future, that's about five minutes from our own current existence," Pondsmith told the broadcaster. "The technology is a couple steps higher, and so forth, but in this particular universe, technology is not good for people. Pollution is rampant, crime is rampant and social and economic inequality is just accepted." That dystopian future doesn't only paint a concerning picture of the environment. "At some point, you'll look down at your character's hands and say 'wow, my hands are metal all the way up to my elbows? Well, that's kind of creepy, it feels kind of wrong,'" the game designer told the *BBC*. ## Countdown Clock Pondsmith also said that he feels "like we are running out of time and we need to start getting our act together." Despite the grim future the games paint, he's optimistic and sees "signs that people are actually pulling it together." **READ MORE:** [Cyberpunk 2077 a 'warning' about the future]() \[*BBC*\] **More on the game:** *[There Appears to Be an Elon Musk Cameo in “Cyberpunk 2077”]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()