Cyberpunk creator teases he came up with ways to bring Keanu Reeves back for Cyberpunk 2

Mike Pondsmith, creator of the Cyberpunk role-playing game series who also worked with CD Projekt Red on Cyberpunk 2077, revealed that he came up with a solution on how to bring Keanu Reeves in the role of Johnny Silverhand back for the sequel, which is currently under development as Project Orion.

In a celebratory CD Projekt livestream dedicated to the fifth anniversary of Cyberpunk 2077, Mike Pondsmith said, “Not that long ago, I saw that Keanu would like to find a way to come back from the dead and play Johnny again. I have ways to do that, Keanu. Contact me.”

Previously, in September 2025, during talks with IGN answering the question of whether he is interested in playing a legendary rock star and terrorist in Cyberpunk 2, Keanu Reeves said that he would love to play Johnny Silverhand again.

In Cyberpunk 2077, Reeves’s character accompanies the main protagonist, V, a freelance mercenary, throughout the game. While mostly appearing as a digital ghost haunting V, he is also playable during certain segments.

While playing Silverhand, Reeves didn’t just become viral with the “you’re breathtaking” moment at E3 2019, which happened during the presentation of Cyberpunk 2077, but also delivered one of the game’s most popular quotes: “Wake the f**k up, Samurai! We have a city to burn.”

Initially, seveloped and published by CD Projekt Red, Cyberpunk 2077 was released on Dec. 10, 2020, for Google Stadia, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One. Then, on Feb. 15, 2022, the game got PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions. On June 5, 2025, the title joined the roster of Nintendo Switch 2 launch titles, and on July 17, 2025, received a port for macOS PCs.

Cyberpunk 2077 has sold over 30 million copies worldwide, which puts the game on the list of best-selling video games of all time, alongside such titles as Borderlands 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Call of Duty: Vanguard, Diablo III, Elden Ring and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

In 2023, the game received a major DLC titled Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, which sold over 10 million copies globally.

As of the time of writing, Cyberpunk 2077 features a “Very Positive” rating on Steam with 795,850 user reviews, while its DLC has the same rating with 20,072 reviews. According to SteamDB, the peak number of concurrent players on Steam for the original title was 1,054,388.