Uploaded September 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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On the third episode of @Cyberpunk 2077 Timeline Explained, we will talk about the decades shortly after the fourth corporate war. The time of the RED was marked by the red skies caused by the nuclear war between Militech and Arasaka. It was a time of struggle and survival was the only rule. For more cyberpunk 2077 lore videos check out the following videos and playlists:

For more Cyberpunk 2077 videos check out the following playlists:
➡ Lore Explained: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLv5wnfhfz9sITNldmZGhvWiZKjgtiWcOr
➡ Technical analysis: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLv5wnfhfz9sLYtmyAqHFR6trPcgsOaHQH
➡ Trailer React/Breakdown: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLv5wnfhfz9sL-s3nQa8ZiI-KGhirZIDRe

Check out nightcity.io for a fully interactable map of City!
Join me on DISCORD! discord.gg/FX4Q7sU
Soundtrack by StreamBeats: streambeats.com
SFX by Commodore 1983: commodore1983.bandcamp.com
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Special Thanks to my Patreons: Trisa133 ($5), Rudolf Wolter ($1) and GWR Dirky Dirk ($1)
If you wanna join them check me out on patreon.com/coldfiregames
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The world took more than a decade to recover from global war, and the first few years were far from peaceful. Riot and rebellion burned in every corner of the globe.
South America was still in political turmoil (I guess nothing changes down here). The Asian and European countries attempted to revive the global trade by regulating the surviving corporations in order to reestablish government control after years of corporate hegemony.
In the United States, President Elizabeth Kress declared martial law in the parts of the country that remained under executive control.
Arasaka was held responsible for the detonation of the nuke that had destroyed the center of Night City.
They claim that arasaka detonated the nuclear device to protect corporate secrets that were held on the HQ dataframes. This is funny because they indeed had nuclear counter measurements in place ready to blow-off in case security got compromised.
However, later investigation shows that the size of the blast was not compatible with that device, the arasaka one being much much bigger.
I have a theory that this might still play a role in the Cyberpunk 2077 story, as that nuclear device is buried down under layers of debris of what is now the new corpo plaza.
Still about that blast, some rumours blaming Militech started to surface. Across the country, society demanded an explanation, and president kress exploited that sentiment to keep Militech on a short leash and at the same time banishing Arasaka from operating in the United States.
Although there was no hard evidence tying Militech to the bombing, the corporation's assets were nationalized by the US government and used to strengthen federal rule.
Some prominent and exonerated Militech officials were offered lucrative positions in the re-formed DoD.

The following years are a long period of global stagnation. Almost no technological development happened between 2024 and 2035.
Corporations were struggling to survive, and the governments focused on internal affairs like suppressing civil unrest and rebuilding devastated cities.
Nomads became the lifeblood of the tech trade, something in the lines of mad max, where huge armored convoys would move restricted and expensive goods around the country. Most of the infrastructure that connected the cities were busted, so almost no trading happened between them. Logistics were also non-insitent making it even harder for industries to manufacture pretty much anything.

As a city state devastated by the war, the USA government showed little to no interest in helping Night City to rebuild. In fact, allowing the crippled city to struggle was the perfect way to bring the free state of Northern california to heel. Nevertheless, the stubborn residents on Night City refused to comply, and the herculean process of rebuilding began.

Meanwhile, after years of futile attempts to reclaim the Old Net from an army of rogue intelligent systems, unleashed on the heat of the fourth corporate war, NetWatch established the so-called “Blackwall”.
The blackwall is a virtual barrier between the human and the AI-controlled regions of the Old Net. Given the complexity of this operation, there may be some truth to the conspiracy theories that the NetWatch was forced to strike a deal with the AI overlords in order to build the Blackwall.
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Special Thanks to my Patreons: Trisa133 ($5), Rudolf Wolter ($1) and GWR Dirky Dirk ($1)
If you wanna join them check me out on patreon.com/coldfiregames
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