All those who suffer from epilepsy and are keen to play ‘Cyberpunk 2077’, be very careful as there are effects that could trigger seizures.
It goes without saying that Cyberpunk 2077 has had a long and arduous journey to release. While early reviews have been glowing, Cyberpunk 2077 has hit an unexpected complication after a reviewer who has epilepsy suffered a seizure while playing the game.
Game Informer associate editor Liana Rupport detailed her experience in reviewing Cyberpunk 2077, revealing that the game contained no explicit epileptic trigger warning and she eventually “suffered one major seizure and felt several moments where [she] was close to another one” due to the various in-game flashing visual effects.
Noting how a common trigger for “epileptics in media are rapid blinking lights, specifically of the red and white variety,” Rupport notes that her seizure was caused by the flashing lights when the player character interacts with a headset to experience a “Braindance,” which is a game mechanic in which players can interface with other characters’ memories.
“Braindances are something that [developer] CDPR has been talking about as a feature for a while now, and it’s an intricate part of the story from start to finish,” writes Rupport. “BDs allow players to interface with memories, often of the deceased, by plugging into a mainframe and diving in. Pretty much everything about this is a trigger and this is something that caused me to have a grand mal seizure when playing to help with our review.”
In addition to the warning about Braindances, Rupport also pointed out how the “flickering pale blue glitch effect” that appears when Keanu Reeves’ character Johnny Silverhand appears could also be a trigger for “some forms of epilepsy.”
Following Rupport’s article, Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt RED have issued out a response on Twitter stating that the team are “working on adding a separate warning in the game, aside from the one that exists in the EULA” and are “currently exploring” a more “permanent solution” to the issue.
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So for those who suffer from epilepsy and are keen to get stuck into Cyberpunk 2077, just be very careful of the braindance sequences in the game.
Thank you for bringing this up. We’re working on adding a separate warning in the game, aside from the one that exists in the EULA (https://t.co/eXpPn73VSK). Regarding a more permanent solution, Dev team is currently exploring that and will be implementing it as soon as possible. https://t.co/lXFypnSit2
— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) December 8, 2020