How long does V have to live in Cyberpunk 2077?
Cyberpunk 2077 doesn't give an official average lifespan for Night City. The game portrays the city as violent and unequal, where many people die young from gangs, poverty, cyberpsychosis and corporate wars while the rich buy expensive medical care. The lifespan question that matters in the story is V's: after the Relic chip with Johnny Silverhand's personality is implanted, it slowly overwrites V's mind, and in most endings V has roughly six months to live.
Why V is dying
During the opening heist, V is shot and survives only because the Relic restarts their brain. The chip starts merging Johnny's engram with V's consciousness, and the main story is a race to find a way to remove it or survive it.
What the endings mean for V
- Most base-game endings: V finds no full cure and is left with about six months. Some endings show V making the most of that time.
- Temperance: V's mind goes beyond the Blackwall, and Johnny keeps living in V's body.
- The Tower (Phantom Liberty): this expansion ending removes the Relic and V survives, but at a heavy cost to their life as a mercenary.
Night City as a setting
The world draws on the Cyberpunk tabletop game. Its tone is "high tech, low life": implants can extend abilities and life, but only for those who can afford them, and the line between human and machine keeps blurring.
FAQ
How old is V in Cyberpunk 2077?
The game doesn't give V an exact age. V is presented as a young adult.
Is V canonically male or female?
Neither. Players choose V's body and voice, and both versions are canon.
How many hours does it take to finish Cyberpunk 2077?
The main story takes roughly 25 hours; with side content, many players spend 60 hours or more.
Is Cyberpunk 2077 worth playing now?
Yes. Major patches since launch fixed most technical problems and reworked many systems, and the Phantom Liberty expansion was well received.