Uploaded September 2020 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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On this first episode of Cyberpunk 2077 Timeline Explained, I will tell you the events from 1990 to 2016 known as 'the collapse'. 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!
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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 collapse of the old USA was one of the major world events of the twenty-first century. Even if the so called New United States were to reunite with the Free States, it would still be a totally different country than what it was fifty years ago.
By 2077 it is clear that the collapse was inevitable, the signs were all there, screaming at our faces. The first three Corporate Wars, fought between the years 1990 and 2016, strengthened the position of the megacorporations, giving them more authority than most world governments and the USA was no exception.
Affiliations between politicians and corporations ceased to be regarded as conflicts of interest and lobbying was out in the open.
As the companies gained unlimited access to the world's natural resources, environmental collapse and climate change were a doomsday clock ticking every second.
Acid rain and dust storms caused by extreme deforestation soon became America’s number 1 problem.
Those natural disasters were also accompanied by political ones. Thermonuclear war in the Middle East turned that part of the world into a radioactive wasteland, causing a global oil crisis.
I wonder if we'll ever get a DLC that shows that part of the globe. I mean, I can’t wait to play a good fallout game one more time as the last ones were a total disappointment for me.
To bail out its ass, America thought that it was a smart idea to manipulate the global stock markets. This plan backfired when classified information secretly was leaked to the public. As a result, worldwide financial meltdown shook the economies of almost every country on the globe, which in turn allowed powerful corporations to gain even more power.
Meanwhile in the USA, a coup launched by the so-called Gang of Four ended federal democracy. The Gang were formed by the most powerful federal agents at the time (the NSA, CIA, FBI, and DEA).
Both the World Bank and the World Stock Exchange were gone. The United States government had no one to borrow money from. Federal Bonds were cashed in at a rate so high that the Government could barely print money fast enough. This devalued the dollar and accelerated the process. Faster and faster the ship of state spun into the vortex.
Many states saw all this as an opportunity to abandon the sinking boat by declaring themselves Free States.
That time also marked the emergence of the Nomad groups, a new american social class of migrants in search of water, jobs and safety, fleeing from the political hurricane nationwide.
As things weren’t dire enough, by 1996 both the President and Vice-President were killed during separate campaign stops (in Maine and California respectively). The Speaker of the House was undergoing bypass surgery and the head of the Senate refused the position of President.
This lead to martial law being declared and now officially the corporate-backed military ran the country
The collapse was seen as the rock bottom by virtually anyone back in the late 2000s, and then, came the Fourth Corporate War.

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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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