Cyberpunk 2077 fans have been creating mods for the game to change all sorts of things, from the minimap to the weather. There’s demand for saucier mods exists as well, as players love romancing characters in Night City. For instance, players who want to woo Judy as a male V can do so with the help of a mod created by Zialar. But not all mods of this nature have survived unscathed. CD Projekt Red has shut one a tweak that allows players to approximate sex with Johnny Silverhand, a major character played by Keanu Reeves.
A popular but simple tactic for modders looking to bed ineligible characters is to go to the game’s sex workers, known as joytoys, and replace their NPC models with more characters, like Goro Takemura or Evelyn Parker. One modder, Catmino, uploaded a version of this mod that replaced a joytoy with Johnny Silverhand — only to have CD Projekt Red intervene and take the mod down, according to the creator. You can no longer download it.
CD Projekt Red provided a statement to PC Gamer, reading in part:
Our most important rule regarding user-generated content, game mods in particular, is that it can’t be harmful towards others. In the case of model swaps, especially those that involve explicit situations, it can be perceived as such by the people who lent us their appearance for the purpose of creating characters in Cyberpunk 2077.
Therefore, when making fan content, creators have to make sure they’ve got permission from all the concerned parties (which might be people other than CD PROJEKT RED). For the characters we’ve invented for the game, we broadly permit you to tweak the game at will and just have fun. When it comes to models of real people whom we’ve asked to participate in the game, we kindly ask you to refrain from using them in any situation that might be found offensive if you don’t have their explicit permission.
CD Projekt Red did not respond in time for press. Johnny Silverhand has a sex scene in the game, but it’s from his point of view, which means you don’t end up seeing very much. For players who are disappointed, they can peruse other mods, including one that allows players to take the role of Johnny Silverhand, John Wick, or Keanu Reeves.
CD Projekt Red released official modding tools on Jan. 26, so players who are interested in tweaking their game can try their hand at it. Just be careful when it comes to the real-person cameos in the game, like Hideo Kojima.