The main story order is Cyberpunk: Edgerunners → Cyberpunk 2077, with Phantom Liberty during your playthrough → Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2. The manga, comics, and books explore different parts of that universe. They do not all follow the same characters or continue one storyline.
This guide shows when each story happens, what it adds, and where to start. Updated October 26, 2026. No ending spoilers.
Cyberpunk in chronological order
Cyberpunk began as a tabletop roleplaying game created by Mike Pondsmith and R. Talsorian Games. CD PROJEKT RED developed Cyberpunk 2077 and expanded that world with its creative partners. The dates below are years within the setting, not release dates.
| In-universe date | Title | What it is and where it fits |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Cyberpunk: The Roleplaying Game of the Dark Future | The original tabletop RPG, commonly called Cyberpunk 2013. Introduces the setting. |
| 2020 and the early 2020s | Cyberpunk 2020 and its supplements | The tabletop RPG develops Night City, its corporations, and the conflicts preceding 2077. |
| 2022 | Cyberpunk: The Arasaka’s Plot | An older licensed Java mobile game. A historical predecessor made outside CD PROJEKT RED. |
| 2023 | Your Voice and Where’s Johnny? | Comics connected to Johnny Silverhand’s era and the Arasaka crisis. Where’s Johnny? follows the tower attack. |
| Around 2045 | Cyberpunk RED, including Black Dog | Tabletop roleplaying and fiction about rebuilding after the Fourth Corporate War. |
| 2070 | Phantom Liberty: Ten of Swords and the Phantom Liberty cinematic trailer | Background to the expansion’s spy story. The comic and video complement each other. |
| Before Edgerunners | XOXO; Edgerunners MADNESS; Let You Down | Separate stories: XOXO takes place a few years earlier; MADNESS follows Rebecca and Pilar; the music video features Sasha. Their exact order relative to one another is not established. |
| 2076 | Cyberpunk: Edgerunners | The anime about David Martinez, Lucy, and Maine’s crew. Precedes V’s main adventure. |
| After Edgerunners, before Cyberpunk 2077 | The Jacket, from the Edgerunners Mission Kit | An official tabletop adventure set between the anime and the video game. |
| 2076–2077 | Cyberpunk 2077 | V’s introduction begins earlier; the main campaign takes place in 2077. |
| 2077, during the campaign | Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty and Clampdown | The expansion fits into your playthrough. Clampdown is a side quest that precedes Edgerunners 2. |
| 2078 | Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 | A second standalone anime with a new cast. CD PROJEKT RED’s Patrick Mills confirmed its 2078 setting. |
| 2079, on one route only | An epilogue unlocked through Phantom Liberty | One possible outcome includes this time jump. It is not a sequel that happens in every playthrough. |
There is no single official sequence that precisely dates every story. Some overlap or leave their date unspecified. The comics without a firm position are explained below. In particular, the frequently cited 2072 date for XOXO is an inference; its writer confirmed that it happens a few years before Edgerunners.
Games and anime: what comes first?
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and its prequels
The 2022 anime tells a complete story across ten episodes. You can watch it without playing the game. Its earlier stories include Edgerunners MADNESS, about Rebecca and Pilar before they join David’s crew, and the official Let You Down music video, featuring Sasha. These are separate stories, not adaptations of the show.
The Jacket happens after the anime and before the video game. It is included in the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission Kit, published in 2024, and is played with a group using Cyberpunk RED’s tabletop rules.
Cyberpunk 2077 and Phantom Liberty
The 2020 video game follows V, a mercenary in Night City. Its flashbacks are part of the game’s narrative. You do not need to separate them into their own entries or rearrange your playthrough to follow their dates.
Phantom Liberty, released in 2023, takes place during Cyberpunk 2077. You do not have to finish the base game first. The expansion becomes available as you progress through the Pacifica storyline and complete Transmission. On a first playthrough, you can start it when its opening call arrives, before committing to the main campaign’s final decision.
Ultimate Edition bundles the base game and expansion. The console, PC, and Mac versions tell the same story; each port does not occupy a new place on the timeline.
Clampdown and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2
Clampdown arrived with free Update 2.5 in October 2026. To unlock it, finish The Heist, complete two gigs for Wakako, and wait for her message. CD PROJEKT RED describes it as a prequel to Edgerunners 2.
Edgerunners 2 premiered on Netflix on October 20, 2026, with ten episodes and a new cast. Patrick Mills confirmed that it takes place in 2078. It follows the central events of 2077 rather than directly continuing David’s story.
Every Cyberpunk 2077 comic series and the official manga
Every title below has been officially published, at least in part, as of this guide’s update. Start each miniseries with issue #1. You do not need to pause the video game to alternate individual missions with comic chapters.
| Title | What it follows | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Your Voice | A worker receives a chip from a stranger and becomes entangled with Johnny Silverhand. | The 2023 era. |
| Where’s Johnny? | A journalist investigates Johnny’s fate after the Arasaka attack. | After the 2023 tower attack. |
| Phantom Liberty: Ten of Swords | Background to the agents involved in Phantom Liberty. | 2070; before the expansion. |
| XOXO | A romance caught between Maelstrom and the Mox. | A few years before Edgerunners. |
| Kickdown | Street racing, stolen vehicles, and a famous car thief’s daughter. | Before the main campaign; no required order relative to the anime. |
| Edgerunners MADNESS | Bartosz Sztybor and Asano’s manga about Rebecca and Pilar. | Before the first anime. Japanese serialization began in 2024. |
| Trauma Team | Nadia faces a dangerous extraction while working for the armed medical rescue company. | Before V’s main adventure; no exact day is needed. |
| Blackout | A braindance technician tries to change his life in a city that sells escape. | Around the 2077 campaign. |
| You Have My Word | A job involving the Valentinos and an urban development project. | Around 2077; before Big City Dreams. |
| Big City Dreams | Two cyberware thieves pursue different ideas of a better life. | After You Have My Word, in the 2077 era. |
| Psycho Squad | A MaxTac operation against a cyberpsycho threat. | Standalone; no confirmed exact position relative to V’s story. |
| Chrome | Four friends encounter a killer at a landfill. | Standalone. All four issues came out in 2026; the collected edition follows later. |
| Jayk’s Case | A detective mystery involving murders and Militech. | Ongoing: issue #1 came out October 21, 2026. A precise timeline position has not been confirmed. |
Library Edition and Omnibus volumes collect existing stories. WEBTOON’s vertical adaptations reformat them. These editions should not be counted as new adventures.
Novels, short stories, and companion books
- No Coincidence (2023): Rafał Kosik’s novel about strangers forced to take part in a heist. It tells its own story in the Cyberpunk 2077 era. The audiobook is another version of the same narrative.
- 2AM — She Calls (2020): Tomasz Marchewka’s short story, distributed as a Steam bonus. It follows Frank, a former police officer working the night shift as a cab driver. Read it as a standalone; this guide does not assign it an unconfirmed exact year.
- The World of Cyberpunk 2077 (2020): a companion to the city, its people, and its technology. It is a reference book rather than a novel continuing V’s adventure.
- Artbooks, the World Compendium, official guides, the Game Booklet, and A Visitor’s Guide to Night City: background on the setting, artwork, or gameplay. Consult them whenever you like; they do not add another required chapter to the timeline.
Tabletop games and alternate timelines
To explore the setting’s past, the tabletop sequence is Cyberpunk 2013 → Cyberpunk 2020 → Cyberpunk RED. Their rulebooks and supplements contain settings, fiction, and adventures for your own sessions. These are not three video games or a novel series you must read in full.
Never Fade Away is one of the classic stories from Johnny’s era. Firestorm: Stormfront and Firestorm: Shockwave explore the Fourth Corporate War. Black Dog, included in RED, moves into the mid-century rebuilding period. RED supplements expand that era, while the Edgerunners Mission Kit moves forward to the 2077 era.
- Cyberpunk RED: Combat Zone: a miniatures game set in 2045.
- Cyberpunk 2077: Gangs of Night City: a board game about rival gangs fighting for control. Its sessions and expansions do not establish a mandatory sequence of events for the video game.
- Cyberpunk Edgerunners: Combat Zone: another miniatures game, set in the 2070s and based on the anime. Its scenarios are not a required sequel.
- The Arasaka’s Plot: the 2007 video game licensed from the original Cyberpunk setting and set in 2022. Included here as a historical predecessor; it was not developed by CD PROJEKT RED.
- Cybergeneration and Cyberpunk v3: official publications that R. Talsorian identifies as alternate timelines. They should not be inserted between RED and 2077.
Roach Race and Trauma Drama are arcade games within Cyberpunk 2077, rather than sequels to its plot. Free updates and their gigs belong to the same playthrough.
Cyberpunk TCG is WeirdCo’s trading card game. Its Holophone narrative experience is presented separately; a verified timeline placement is not available for this table. General retail release is scheduled for November 6, 2026, following its preview events.
An announcement or crowdfunding campaign is not a release. Cyberpunk 2 and screen projects that have not premiered are excluded from the order of available stories. Go On Board’s Cyberpunk 2077 — The Board Game also offers an alternate storyline; its updated schedule puts the start of fulfillment in 2027.
The best order for newcomers
- Watch Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Its ten episodes introduce Night City without requiring prior knowledge.
- Play Cyberpunk 2077. Add Phantom Liberty when it becomes available, before closing out the campaign. With Update 2.5 installed, play Clampdown before watching the second anime, too.
- Watch Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2. Its story takes place in 2078.
- Explore what interests you: MADNESS and Let You Down for more of the first anime’s world; Ten of Swords for espionage; Trauma Team or Psycho Squad for armed operations; No Coincidence for a standalone novel.
Use the timeline table if you want to explore the world from its earliest stories. To enjoy CD PROJEKT RED’s universe, you can start watching or playing without first reading every comic or tabletop rulebook.
Sources and how this guide was organized
This guide checks CD PROJEKT RED, Dark Horse and its distributors, Orbit, and R. Talsorian Games, with links alongside the relevant titles. Comic chronology was also cross-checked against Comic Book Treasury and the references on Cyberpunk Wiki. Relative placements are not a single official calendar issued by CD PROJEKT RED. Unconfirmed dates are identified as such.