The official account for Cyberpunk 2077 wished a happy birthday to River Ward, a character in the game, and shared fan art along with the post, calling him “one of the few good cops left in Night City.” This caused a lot of debate and dialogue among the gamers, which was a mixture of misunderstanding and humor, over the quality of the character, his love affair, and even his position in the game’s universe. The main point of the eruption was the fierce and divided opinions that after years of the game being launched players still had about the different characters.

So, the Cyberpunk 2077 account has now acknowledged River Ward’s birthday. Pretty nice, right? Just a beautiful way to honor a persona, and also showing the submission of fan art by artist Barbara “Yuhime.” The text even refers to him as one of the few good cops in Night City. Nice, isn’t it?

But if you sort of scroll down you’ll see a completely different story. The comments section resembles a war zone. In fact, it is just a total gonk-show. Developers appear to have just taken a stick to poke into a beehive and the bees have started arguing about taxes.

The first group of people you will notice are surely the lovers. One of them, the ‘notfirstpick’ user, mentions: “Love this! Captures him so well❤️ River hate will not be tolerated here😌”. That’s the vibe. Almost protective. Then ‘Celestika_’ supports that with “I love River, he’s cute ♥️”. This surely implies that there is indeed a fan club without any doubt.

On the other hand, the opposing side is… They are really loud. The user ‘yandjoshi’ throws a grenade into the discussion thread: “don’t ever create no bullshit character like this again for women”. Ouch! That’s pretty much a hit! The user ‘AlphaAsmaa’ just labels the character as “The worst NPC” without giving any reason, just pure hatred.

And the process becomes even more intricate. There are people trying to elaborate on this character. ‘Subliminal8910’ goes to say River is a decent character but his questline feels “unfinished”. ‘visirice’ agrees, noting that the last two quests were “really awkward” and the romance feels “forced”. A conversation is underway about how his storyline with V, particularly if you romance him, is just… cringe. The user ‘YungOverthinker’ spills out a rant: “Worst side character in game, plus the scene on the roof is so cringe and unexpected… I intentionally put a bullet in his head.” Wow! That’s quite a strong reaction to a tweet about a birthday!

It’s not just a matter of whether he is a good character or not. Gamers are contesting his moral position. ‘deaf_ego’ points out the irony: “As a ‘good cop’ he sure did break a bunch of laws while partnered with a Merc lol”. True! In Night City, who can really be called good? User ‘mguedes1986’ calls Night City corrupt and replies, “Sometimes justice means breaking some laws.” So now players are in the replies to the birthday post!

Romance related topics are also integrated into the main theme of the story. They are CONTINUOUSLY there. Players are mostly feeling frustrated about not being able to flirt with the characters they want in their role. ‘shizunsus’ reacts to “I’m already mad I can’t get with Panam as woman V!” which is the same feeling. And ‘Momoji_Doax3’ is seriously asking the devs: “Update that romance storyline, please.” The demand for more or better romantic content is very strong among gamers. On the other hand, gamers like ‘caphettc’ feel that he is more a friend than a romantic interest: “I prefer his vibe with male V honestly. It’s just bros being dudes energy.”

It’s all these discussions that reveal the chaotic and delightful nature of Twitter. One user posts a giphy of a sad man after being rejected. Another shares a “here they come” with the clown car, indicating the impending drama. User ‘joxxyVtuber’ says, “Happy birthday, River. I forgive you despite kidnapping me that one time,” which is a very humorous way to describe a quest. And ‘meokater’ asks a rather clever question: “Wait a minute..isn’t he even born yet?” This is, because actually, the game world is set in the future. It’s a real brain-teaser.

It is so raw, so unrefined, and so somewhat awesome. From a straightforward birthday post, the developers have sparked a massive community debate. This kind of engagement is common on platforms like PlayStation and Xbox networks as well.