Cyberpunk 2077’s ESRB Rating Says You Can Customize Your Genitals

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I’ve got to be honest, I never thought I’d put the word “genitals” in a headline here in my video game beat, but here we are, and CD Projekt Red is boldly going where few have dared to tread.

The ESRB rating for Cyberpunk 2077 has landed, and is a chunky paragraph talking about all the violence and sex we already knew would be coming in the game. But what I was not expecting? Custom genitals.

“Players can select a gender and customize their character; customization can include depictions of breasts, buttocks, and genitalia, as well as various sizes and combinations of genitals.”

So, I don’t think this is just CDPR trying to be edgy, I think this is making good on their expressed desire to have the option for the player character to be transgender or non-binary.

This issue was brought up more than two years ago when CDPR said it was “too early to say” if they would offer more than binary male/female gender options, but “it’s definitely something they’ve looked at.” Now, it appears that the final system actually made it to the game where you’re not just potentially pairing male/female facial traits with female/male body types, or swapping voices, but you can customize your character right down to their genitals, or even a “combination of genitals” which … I am curious to see what that is like in practice.

I don’t know how much actual full-frontal nudity will be in the game where this genital selection will be visible, but I suppose it could have ramifications on certain items of clothing as well.

Given that gender and trans issues usually cause some level of controversy in the gaming community, it’s easy to predict that CDPR will come under fire for going out of their way to be this inclusive from the usual irritating crowd who pushes back against the “political correctness” of decisions like this. But I could potentially see some pushback on the other side if this isn’t handled with some degree of sensitivity. Cyberpunk has already displeased some in the trans community with some in-game art.

I can guarantee you that when the “genital customization” feature is finally revealed for the game you’re going to see it shared far and wide and it will be a bigger deal than it just being mentioned in the ESRB rating. And I’m not sure whether this will be a positive moment for trans representation in video games, or a well-intentioned misstep, depending on how it works in practice.

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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2020/05/06/cyberpunk-2077s-esrb-rating-says-you-can-customize-your-genitals/