THE MAN BEHIND THE MYTH
Mike Pondsmith is one of the most influential tabletop writers of all time, and is closely involved with the video-game adaptation of his most famous creation.
PCPP: If you could tell past you that your tabletop game would be getting the AAA video game treatment decades after its release, how would past you respond?
Mike Pondsmith: Cyberpunk has been optioned for video games since it was first released, so 1980s me wouldn’t be that surprised. But he would be amazed at the level of technology and skill present in Cyberpunk 2077. It took a long time, but we finally found the right team with the ability to make something that can live up to 1980s Mike’s wildest dreams. PCPP: How involved have you been with the video game’s development, and has any of that filtered back into Cyberpunk Red?
Mike Pondsmith: I’ve been involved from the start, with story, visuals, and even a bunch of the gameplay. My current role is to mesh the Cyberpunk Red (a new tabletop edition of the game) part of the timeline into a seamless whole with the Cyberpunk 2077 part. One of the best parts is using parts of Red to explain how certain things came to pass in the 2077 period; showing the roots of particular weapons, ideas about the Net, even how certain characters have evolved. PCPP: A lot of gamers decry politics creeping into their games, but with source material shaped around fighting corporate greed in a world where governments have failed, Cyberpunk seems inherently political. How important is that to you as a story element?
Mike Pondsmith: Politics is the foundation of a cyberpunk universe in my opinion. Otherwise, it’s just a bunch of jacked up dudes with guns shooting everything in sight. Cyberpunk isn’t really about traditional politics though; it’s far less about right vs left. Most cyberpunks for example, are totally down with capitalism if they can get their share of it. But there’s a big difference between the free market and megacorps acting like gangsters. If maintaining the bottom line means you’re gunning people down in the streets, that’s not Wall Street – it’s Al Capone’s Chicago. So the politics of Cyberpunk are more centered on the gap between the powerful and the powerless; and how technology levels the playing field between them.