CD Projekt Red has delivered an official response to the player’s questions regarding the marketing of Cyberpunk 2077‘s Phantom Liberty expansion where the male version of protagonist V was missing altogether. The creators explained that the male V was the marketing camp center during the base game and thus they decided to present the female V in the expansion to “switch it up” and “one game for each V.” This explanation is made together with the noticeable online fan discussion and speculation about the change in promotion areas.

Zapping internet’s not done yet, huh? It was pointed out that the female character, V, has been at all the trailers and marketing for the Phantom Liberty expansion. The male version of V didn’t appear at all during this period. He either “died” or was “deleted” like a role in a brain dance. Gamers started to ask questions. And the volume of them was really big. Was it a political statement? A mistake? Or just that CDPR totally did not care about him?

That is not true at all, the developers said it was a conscious decision. It was really easy, the male V had his moment to shine during the base game’s marketing campaign. So, the developers are rotating the lead in this new part of the story, now it’s the female V’s turn. They remarked “One game for each V.” Which seems fair, even balanced on paper.

But you know how the people of Night City are. They won’t just say “cool” and nod. The reactions to this clarification ranged from mild to full-blown cyber-psychosis. Some players have no problem with it at all. For instance, user HellcatF6FA, who is one of the coolest ones said he prefers the female V because of Cherami Leigh’s voice acting talent and, of course, the Judy romance scene is much longer than.

There is, however, an opposing side of the discussion and it quickly turns nasty. Many replies use the words “woke,” or “full DEI” in describing CDPR, suggesting the change is due to activist pressure or ESG funds. User ClinicYT even linked it with the future of Witcher games by saying, “It’s also the reason The Witcher games will follow Ciri now.” Which wait what was I saying? Oh right, that’s a whole other can of worms that people have been speculating about for years. But it points to how this one marketing choice is being interpreted as a signal of larger corporate shifts.

Some of the criticisms, though, are more… aesthetic? Take user frequentdisastr, for example, who said, “They should at least have made the female V appealing. It is not hard.” And RenierPPorter just sounded straightforward when he said, “they made her less pretty.” Ouch. Others, meanwhile, are viewing the new Fem V model through a completely different lens. User coop92968 wrote, “That is still male V. I can’t be convinced that is a biological woman,” with eye_pasta agreeing and adding it’s a part of a “trans fetish.” So, the conversation indeed went there. Quite fast.

But it’s certainly not just about the culture wars. Some people simply don’t believe the whole story. User ScreamerRSA wrote, “Everybody knows they are lying. We can see and recognize a pattern.” And 00yisan called it a “standard pr response.” The mistrust is very much alive, herd. People feel like they are being fed a line, especially when you take a look back and some feel Male V was not even that visible in some digital base game art.

Yet the thing that really bothers me is that most players are just… done? In a good way. User Injirleefe made a wonderful point, praising both voice actors and said that in games with dual protagonists there is always one that is overrated (they mentioned Kassandra in AC Odyssey). But with Cyberpunk, they found both Vs equally good, which is a huge win. And Weevil2077 just voted, “Valerie is my canon. Vincent doesn’t exist. You’ve reached the end of the story.” Thus, for a large part of the community, this is no discussion at all. Fem V is V.

In essence, a developer company has made a decision on marketing that they probably thought would hardly cause any reactions. But in 2026 everything is an issue. A character on a box is no longer just a character on a box. It’s a signal, a battlefield, a declaration. For CD Projekt Red which is still trying to rebuild trust after Cyberpunk 2077’s release, every step is under the microscope. This answer shows that players are watching them very closely, picking up deeper meanings from every pixel. Ultimately, the game lets you decide who V is.