Elon Musk Was Never in Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Dev Says, Despite Him Demanding a Cameo

Elon Musk was never in Cyberpunk 2077 according to one CD Projekt Red developer, despite the Tesla and X boss demanding a cameo.

Cyberpunk 2077 senior quest designer Patrick K. Mills said the widely believed fan theory that Musk features in the corpo opening of the game is "nonsense".

This came in response to a post from Virus_Kid on X (below), who commented on a new character model which appeared in the game-changing Update 2.0. "Oh my god they removed the Elon Musk cameo from the corpo opening in Cyberpunk 2077," they said, posting screenshots of the cutscene before and after the patch.

That wasn't Elon musk, it looks nothing like him

Who came up with this nonsense? https://t.co/usPO94IFhD

— Patrick K. Mills (@PKernaghan) September 22, 2023

"That wasn't Elon Musk. It looks nothing like him," Mills responded. "Who came up with this nonsense?" The developer didn't provide any further insight, however, noting that, ironically, he has Musk's name muted on X so can't interact with any of the responses.

Musk's supposed appearance in Cyberpunk 2077 was widely believed because the tech billionaire was thought to appear in the corpo opening of the game, which sees the player work in mega corporations that rule the dystopian Night City.

Musk even demanded a cameo in the game during a CD Projekt Red recording session with his former girlfriend Grimes (who played Lizzy Wizzy in Cyberpunk 2077). As reported by PC Gamer, the singer said in an Elon Musk biography that her boyfriend took an antique firearm to the recording session. "I told them that I was armed but not dangerous," Musk allegedly said.

CD Projekt declined to comment further when contacted by IGN.

Update 2.0 also completely revamps Cyberpunk 2077 with features such as a new perk system and improved AI. Its release caused a spike in popularity of the game on Steam, even ahead of its one and only expansion Phantom Liberty launching today, September 26.

In our 9/10 review of the DLC, IGN said: "Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty completes an immense turnaround for CD Projekt Red's future RPG kickstarted with the anime spin-off, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and its latest 2.0 Update."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.