Cyberpunk 2077’s sequel, huh? So apparently we’re not just sticking to the gritty, neon-drenched alleys of Night City. Nope, we’re heading to a new place, a city that might kinda make you think of Chicago but, like, if Chicago took a wrong turn somewhere. Wild, right? Anyway, it got me thinking about how all this Cyberpunk stuff might’ve messed with the whole 90s Chicago Bulls basketball dynasty. Maybe nobody else cares, but it hit me.
Anyway—wait—so Mike Pondsmith, the dude behind the whole Cyberpunk tabletop thing that the games spring from, spilled the beans. We finally get something real about the game, not just all that “it’s in progress” jazz. Oh, and he’s still chatting with the folks at CD Projekt, just not as much as before, but he sometimes swings by to see what’s cooking with the scripts and cyberware and all that. He mentioned shooting the breeze with one of the environment guys about this new city—did I mention there’s another city? Right, I did, but just imagine it.
Night City isn’t going anywhere, according to Pondsmith. He had this moment, looking at it like, “Yeah, it nails that vibe — not Blade Runner-esque, more like a chaotic Chicago.” I mean, no clue why, but that stuck with me.
If you’re curious, you can catch all this gooey info-dropping around three hours and forty-five minutes into the video they threw up on YouTube. Honestly, hearing about a Cyberpunk version of Chicago sent my brain spiraling into what its lore might say about the real Chicago.
So, I did a little digging. According to the series’ fandom page—take it with a grain of salt, they’re light on sources—Chicago was left a wreck, thanks to the U.S. collapse between ‘96 and ’08, followed by a nasty bio-plague (created by the government, no less). Fast forward to ‘77, and supposedly there’s a flurry to hook it up to Night City through some giant, non-working rail system, though Night Corp’s poking around thinking about reviving it.
All this chaos swirling by ‘96 makes me wonder—do the Bulls still snag their ‘96, ‘97, and ‘98 NBA titles in this twisted timeline? Assuming MJ even dribbles a b-ball in this world. Just picturing it seemed worth puzzling over.
Here’s what I figure—martial law’s on from ’96 through ’99, so Jordan and the gang have all this extra mess, plus a ’98 drought, plus Chicago’s fall to deal with. Ninety percent of the place is deserted by ’08! Still, it’s Jordan, right? I bet he’s juking around bio-plagues and cyber-soldiers to dunk on the Jazz in the finals.
Think MJ still bags those six rings with some cyber-fingers? What about exploring this other city scene in Cyberpunk 2? Spill your thoughts below!
