In the summer of 2023, CD Projekt Red stepped onto Gamescom's Opening Night Live stage and pulled back the curtain on Phantom Liberty, the first and final expansion for Cyberpunk 2077. What the studio showed was not a simple add-on but a transfusion of new systems into Night City's veins. By 2026, that transfusion has long since settled, and the expansion's fingerprints are everywhere in the base game. The presentation revealed vehicular combat, a revamped police force, rebuilt skill trees, a new Relic skill line, and more than 100 new items. It also confirmed that the 2.0 update would arrive alongside the DLC on September 26, 2023, effectively turning Cyberpunk 2077 into a different beast. For V, the mercenary at the center of it all, the message was clear: Night City was about to become a more dangerous, more expressive, and more unpredictable place.
🚗 Vehicular Combat Turns the Streets Into a Moving Warzone
The biggest reveal in Phantom Liberty's gameplay trailer was vehicular combat. It had been teased in a screenshot, but the base game lacked it, leaving PC modders to fill the gap. CD Projekt Red made it official: a variety of new vehicles would join the roster, from sleek sports cars to heavily armored tank-type machines. Gameplay designer Yulia Pryimak said, 'Car chases are going to be a renewed experience with a revamped police system.' That promise mattered because the original police AI was one of the game's most infamously lackluster features.
The footage showed V escaping the police with a Grand Theft Auto-like Wanted system. The more illegal activities players commit, the more aggressively law enforcement hunts them. V fires mounted weapons and rockets at pursuers, then, when cornered, performs a donut while spraying bullets in every direction. Players can also aim V's handgun through the windshield and windows or open doors, echoing the original CGI trailer. On motorcycles, melee weapons such as swords become options for fending off anyone who gets too close. In 2026, these chases remain one of the expansion's most cinematic pleasures, a reminder that Night City's asphalt is never neutral ground.
🧠 Skills, Perks, and the Relic Slot
Cyberpunk 2077's skill trees received an overhaul when the expansion and 2.0 update launched. The level cap increased beyond the original 50, though CD Projekt Red did not state the new maximum at the time. More importantly, the game veered away from percentage-based passive buffs. Trees such as Reflex gained new abilities and moves, including deflecting bullets with melee weapons, a technique shown in the Gamescom footage. The result felt like a city wiring its own nervous system into a second brain: every build could suddenly think, react, and improvise in new ways.
New perks included:
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Opportunist — seemingly allows the player to pick up items such as a one-handed chainsaw for a lethal takedown.
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Spatial Mapping — a blink-type ability that scans a target and delivers a devastating finisher.
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Limiter Removal — V punches an enemy with such force that their body explodes.
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Savage Sling — a finisher used to move and manipulate opponents' bodies in combat.
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Deadeye — a Red Dead Redemption-esque perk that marks and executes enemies in quick succession.
There was also a brand-new Relic category, assuming the empty sixth slot already present in the base game. Relic skills required unique Relic points to upgrade and added further twists to installed Cyberware. Cyberware such as the forearm Mantis Blades appeared to be expanded with similar melee attacks and arm-mounted projectile weapons. By 2026, buildcrafting has become a language of its own, and the Relic tree is one of its most distinctive dialects.
🛠️ Customization, Cyberware, and the Great Reset
Since Cyberpunk 2077 launched in 2020, players have poured effort into creating distinct versions of V, both aesthetically and mechanically. Phantom Liberty added a wealth of new items to expand that expression. The new weapons, vehicles, and cyberware enhancements were merely part of over 100 new items, alongside fashion pieces that let players customize V more than ever. The expansion arrived like a chrome-plated phoenix molting its old skin mid-flight, shedding outdated limitations while keeping the same fierce silhouette.
The customization mechanic changed, too. V undergoes a procedure early in the DLC to completely reset their Cyberware, rebooting internal systems from scratch. This improves player control over builds going forward. Players can add or remove active, passive, and conditional abilities at any given time, and they can install more Cyberware than they would normally be able to thanks to the new items on offer. The reset may have seemed drastic after an entire campaign, but it served a massive improvement. In 2026, that flexibility is simply expected from a modern RPG.
🕵️ Dogtown, Espionage, and the People In Between
Phantom Liberty also delivered a brand-new espionage-heavy storyline involving the president of the New United States of America. It introduced Dogtown, a dangerous sub-district with a new gang to face, and characters such as Idris Elba's Solomon Reed. Across new story quests, gigs, and endless dynamic events, V navigated a web of loyalty and betrayal. CD Projekt Red had previously confirmed that all core systems were redone or updated in a major way, practically making Phantom Liberty a new game and helping justify its $29.99 price tag. The expansion launched on September 26, 2023, and by 2026 it is no longer a promise but a foundation.
| Feature | What Changed |
|---|---|
| 🚗 Vehicular combat | Mounted weapons, handguns through windows, motorcycle melee |
| 🚓 Police | Wanted system, aggressive pursuits, renewed car chases |
| 🧠 Skills and perks | Higher level cap, active abilities, new finishers |
| 💾 Relic | New skill tree powered by Relic points |
| 🛠️ Customization | 100+ items, Cyberware reset, flexible build control |
| 🕵️ Story | Dogtown, NUSA president, Solomon Reed, espionage |
As CD Projekt Red looks ahead to Project Orion and the next era of the franchise, the lessons of Phantom Liberty remain embedded in Night City. The expansion was not just a final chapter for V's original story; it was a jazz musician improvising over a score that had been rewritten while the audience watched. In 2026, that performance still echoes. For anyone returning to Night City, the 2.0-era systems and the Phantom Liberty expansion are the definitive way to experience a game that refused to stay still.