If you’ve been waiting four years to get back to Night City, today’s the day. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2, the follow-up to the 2022 anime that became a surprise phenomenon, premiered on Netflix on Tuesday, October 20, with all ten episodes available to binge at once.

Here’s what you need to know before you press play, from the brand-new cast to the video game update arriving later this week.

A standalone story with an all-new crew

Don’t expect to pick up where the first season left off. According to CD PROJEKT RED’s premiere announcement, Edgerunners 2 is a standalone series that follows a fresh set of characters through the chaos and violence of Night City. The studio describes it as “a raw and emotional tale of vengeance and redemption,” told through the intertwining stories of a veteran edgerunner, a young cinephile, a chrome-obsessed delinquent and a Snake Nation netrunner.

The official series site, as summarized by Anime.com, names some of the leads:

  • Weak Kingsley, a former edgerunner once known as “King” who now lives without chrome, voiced by Kentaro Tone.
  • D, a Snake Nation netrunner out to avenge his clan, voiced by Koki Uchiyama.
  • Roman Carax, a young cinephile who films Night City, voiced by Momoka Terasawa.

Netflix’s own logline teased it as a story about “a washed up edgerunner and a killer netrunner in Night City,” which gives a sense of the tone: gritty, personal and very much in the spirit of the original.

Who’s behind it

The sequel once again pairs Polish game studio CD PROJEKT RED with Japanese animation house TRIGGER. This time Kai Ikarashi directs, with Ichigo Kanno as lead character designer. Two key creative voices return: Masahiko Otsuka and Hugo Award winner Bartosz Sztybor, who serves as showrunner, story writer and producer.

That continuity matters. The first Edgerunners premiered on September 13, 2022, and its ten-episode story of a street kid in a city of corruption and cybernetic implants won over anime fans and gamers alike. The sequel keeps the episode count and the setting while swapping out the cast, so newcomers can jump in without homework and returning fans get something genuinely new.

The game gets a tie-in update too

Netflix isn’t the only place Night City is getting attention this week. CD PROJEKT RED announced the Edgerunners 2 Update, also called Update 2.5, for Cyberpunk 2077. The free update will add content inspired by the new anime along with other new items and features.

Mark your calendar:

  • October 21: A special REDstreams broadcast on Twitch, YouTube and Steam will give a first look at the update, with official patch notes published the same day.
  • October 22: The update arrives on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
  • Soon after: The Nintendo Switch 2 version follows “shortly,” according to the studio.

It’s a smart one-two punch. The original anime famously sent a wave of viewers back to the game, and pairing the sequel with fresh in-game content looks designed to do it again.

How to watch

Both seasons of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners stream exclusively on Netflix. Season 2 is a complete ten-episode drop, so you can watch at your own pace or clear a weekend and do it in one go. Because it’s a standalone story, you don’t strictly need to watch the first series first, though it remains the best introduction to the look and feel of Night City.

A quick heads-up: like the original, this is a mature, violent series set in a dark future, so it’s not one for younger viewers.

Final thoughts

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 had a lot to live up to, and CD PROJEKT RED and TRIGGER are betting that a new crew and a familiar city are the right formula. With the full season out today and a tie-in game update landing Thursday, this is shaping up to be a very Night City week. Grab some snacks, dim the lights and see if the sequel earns its chrome.

Image: Kabukichō, Tokyo. by Bernard Spragg via Flickr, Public Domain Mark 1.0