https://www.cybersport.ru/games/articles/istoriya-mira-cyberpunk-2077-novyi-sssr-i-stroitelstvo-nait-siti

Not so the United States of America

For obvious reasons, the United States of America is described in more detail in the games and related materials, or, rather, the not so United States of America. In 1994 the country suffered a terrible economic crisis. How scary? Let’s just say that the crisis of 2008 and the Great Depression refer to him as “you”. The government was unable to cope with either it or its consequences, as a result of which the United States lost its superpower status. In addition, several western states have declared themselves free – they are still formally part of the federation, but in fact they have complete independence.

The beginning of the 1990s was supposed to be the end of the Cold War, but in reality it only launched a new round. The United States distanced itself from Europe and unleashed a war with Latin America, in which the secret services tried to destroy the coca crops with biological weapons. The cartels responded with a nuclear attack on New York.

By 1996, the crisis was at its peak, with unemployment, corruption and homelessness sweeping across the country. The ensuing civil unrest did not improve the situation. It got to the point that the president and vice president were killed on the same day – and the crimes turned out to be connected with each other and occurred in different parts of the United States. Power was transferred to the interim government, which declared martial law. The nuts began to tighten.

A catastrophic series of accidents almost destroyed the country. But in fact, not all of them were random. Behind the collapse of the stock exchange, the ensuing crisis, political assassinations and other things, there was a secret organization called the Gang of Four, which included the leaders of the main US intelligence services. After sowing chaos in the country, establishing a regime of permissiveness and impunity, they hoped to get to unlimited power.

In 1997, the neo-luddite movement formed in the United States. The original Luddites in the 19th century destroyed machines as they allegedly took jobs from people. In the world of “Cyberpunk” their followers were doing about the same, but on a large scale – they blew up airports, factories, highways, etc. And the country’s army, meanwhile, participated in the Iran-Iraq war, where it suffered huge losses.

But do not think that only people are to blame for all America’s troubles. “The Land of the Free” also turned out to be unsympathetic to Mother Nature – the unbridled greed of mankind had long tested her patience for strength. The 1998 drought not only left the country almost without food supplies, but also led to the disappearance of family farming. In the same year, an earthquake sent 35% of Los Angeles under water. And what remained of agriculture was destroyed by fire storms in 2000.

The beginning of the new century was remembered in the United States by the unrest of sectarians. They assumed that with the turn of the millennium the world would disappear on its own, and they were very saddened when this did not happen. They tried to solve the problem with massive orgies and suicides. At the same time, an epidemic of a new disease broke out, which claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. In 2003, the United States invaded Central America, initiating a war that has been dubbed “the second Vietnam.” As in the “first Vietnam”, the States did not achieve success in it.

A year later, in 2004, the First Corporate War broke out. By then, the mega-corporations already had the power to support private armies. It would seem that the country has almost turned into the scenery of “Mad Max”, where did the super-rich companies come from that could also fight each other?

First, mega-corporations didn’t come out of nowhere. They originated in the XX century, when the situation was a little calmer. And by the beginning of the next century they had already received international status, which leads us to the “second”: such corporations have ceased to be tied to geography. Are US consumers impoverished? There are about 190 other countries in the world.

Third, the main mega-corporations sell weapons, equipment, and even soldiers. And the demand for such goods only grows during the crisis. Servants of the people prefer to buy more sticks in order to deter the very people who need the carrots.

Fourth, the political impotence of states provides enormous bonuses when played correctly. Tax cuts, government contracts, the abolition of any kind of regulation, disregard for labor legislation – this and much more can be easily obtained from a country whose ruler does not believe that he will live to see tomorrow.

There will be three more corporate wars in the future. The second will unfold in Siberia and the Chinese Sea, the Network will become the third battlefield, and the fourth will visit American soil again and end with the detonation of a nuclear charge in the center of Knight City.

Despite the protracted socio-economic crisis, one industry did not lack funding and attention – the military. In the history of the United States, there have been practically no moments when the country would not have fought with anyone. This is understandable: the interim government consisted entirely of generals, and corporations profiting from conflicts happily added fuel to the fire.

The defense industry also had a space program. Apparently, a country, half of whose population lives below the poverty line, simply needs to conquer the Universe. However, other countries were also concerned about this, because of which it became cramped in orbit and the situation began to heat up: here someone’s garbage would damage the neighbor’s skin, and instead of an asteroid, someone else’s rocket would be blown up.

All these misunderstandings, as well as the complicated relations of the United States with literally all countries of the planet, resulted in 2008 in the First Orbital War, which lasted six hours. The United States attacked the Soviet defense platform MIR XIII, for the first and last time in human history, amphibiously boarding a space station.

In response to the US aggression, the European Commonwealth (a strategic ally of the Soviets) launched an orbital bombardment of the country, destroying the city of Colorado Springs. A year later, the Americans sponsored terrorists who attacked the European space station. The action was suppressed, and as a warning, the European Space Agency brought down a small asteroid near Washington.

To the credit of the United States, the country stoically endured the troubles that befell it and was not going to just give up. It cannot be said that she has recovered – she will hardly be able to achieve her former greatness. However, the country managed to slow down the fall into the abyss and retained most of the territory. This was achieved due to a very tough policy and the remnants of the wealth and power accumulated in the 20th century.

In 2003, the military interim government eliminated the Gang of Four, responsible for the initial crisis, for which it was necessary to practically unleash a war on the streets of Washington. However, many conspirators settled in the offices of corporations. After that, the authorities began to gradually put what was left of the country in order, not without the help of corporations and loyal to the Militech States in the first place. It was along with Militech that the United States entered into an alliance with China in 2008, and it became, in fact, the only friendly country. By 2023, martial law had been lifted, yielding to a not unlikely presidential dictatorship. But there was some kind of stability – not prosperity, of course, but the growth rates of unemployment, homelessness and crime in the new decade were less than in the previous one.

Despite this, the country’s losses during this period were appalling. Six states gained independence. Almost all of the west turned into a lifeless desert, the north was scorched by firestorms, and the south was raging with drought. Nuclear and orbital strikes have been launched against several cities. The country has experienced two major epidemics, a series of earthquakes and floods. All in all, during this time, 100 million Americans died.

As of 2023, America is the country with the largest gap between rich and poor. 65% of US residents are officially recognized as beggars. And this is not counting 25-50 million people who are generally deleted from any statistics and are deprived of electoral and other rights. These include, for example, nomads – people who have been left homeless by corporations or other circumstances. They actually live in a tribal system, roaming in their cars across the wastelands from one metropolis to another.

The period between 2023 and 2077 turned out to be somewhat poorer in events. This is partly due to the fact that board games spanned predominantly the 20s and 30s. Partly because it was no longer possible to slide further at such a pace. The United States has reached a kind of plateau of its fall – the situation is still lousy and is gradually deteriorating, but not so quickly and clearly.

City of Dreams

The main setting for the Cyberpunk games is the metropolis of Knight City. Cyberpunk 2077 commercials often describe it as the worst city to live in America. And that says a lot, because, as we just found out, life in the cyberpunk States is not sugar at all.

Knight City is located in the Free State of Northern California, on the Pacific Ocean. California was one of the first regions to gain independence – just behind Texas and Alaska, so the federal government means almost nothing to its residents. The corporations that helped build this city have much more power in Knight City.

Originally Knight City was named Coronado City, after the bay where it was located. It was the project of businessman Richard Knight, who dreamed of building an ideal city, free from crime, poverty, corruption and all those phenomena, which eventually became a refuge.

In 1992, several large corporations invested in the construction of Coronado City. Obviously, they also wanted to build the perfect place for everyone to live. In addition, their own city would provide them with unprecedented freedom and protection from the government.

The construction of the city proceeded at an astonishing speed. By 1998, it had turned into a large metropolis. In the same year, Richard Knight was shot. The killer was never found, and the city was renamed in honor of the businessman. Despite the tragedy, many believe that Knight was lucky – he did not see what his brainchild had become.

In the late 1990s, the collapse that gripped America was in full swing, and Knight City was also affected by the situation. The city split into two opposing camps. The center was occupied by corporations and their private armies, and numerous street gangs began to rule the rest of the areas.

The crisis lasted until 2011, when corporations decided to take back the city. The heavily armed mercenaries left the center and went to clean the streets. As a result, Knight City returned to the mainstream of civilization. It didn’t make him much safer, but now the murders were at least investigated by the police, and arson was put out by firefighters. Unfortunately, for a long time of lawlessness, some areas of the city have completely lost the chance to return to normal life, forever remaining as war zones.

The silence and tranquility (by Cyberpunk standards) lasted about ten years. In 2023, the Fourth Corporate War began between the Japanese Arasaka and the American Militech, including Knight City. The city was let down by the very independence guaranteed by the status of a free state. Since big business was completely ruled here and there was no government influence, no one could prevent corporations from tearing Knight City apart. Snipers, drones, tanks and even a small nuclear bomb were used, which, however, was enough to destroy the city center and everyone who was there.

The explosion caused damage not only by the shock wave. He also caused an earthquake, and then radioactive contamination. Residents were forced to move to the suburbs and from there rebuild Knight City. In this they were helped by nomads, neighboring cities and even other countries.

But the federal government almost did not participate in the process of rebuilding Night City, which further alienated the city from it. This led to the fact that during the Unification War of 2069–2070, when the strengthened federal center was about to regain control of the free states, Night City asked for protection from the Arasaka corporation.

The conflict drowned out before it began. As a result of the war, a new treaty was signed, which for the most part retained the status quo. Knight City, on the other hand, was recognized as an internationally independent city, free from the rule of both the United States and Northern California.

USSR – from corporate control to corporate control

Compared to America, the cyberpunk Soviet Union was lucky. To begin with, he at least continued to exist, albeit with minor changes in the system.

First, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev turned the Union into a federation, giving more independence to the republics. However, this led to the growth of separatist movements. Therefore, his successor reorganized the country into the Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics (if you haven’t noticed, the word “socialist” has disappeared). By the way, there was such a project in our reality.

The new USSR was aimed at developing the economy and free trade and actively cooperated with the European Economic Community. In particular, the countries have undertaken several joint space missions.

In 1998, a corporation was established in the country, which, after several renames, will become SovOil – the largest producer and producer in the fuel sector. In the shortest possible time, with the approval of the state, the company acquired its own army, and in 2002 declared itself independent of the government. The USSR tried to regain control of the corporation, but that very private army prevented this.

In the following years SovOil strengthened its position even more. In the end, it all came to the fact that the corporation began to actually rule the country. The fact is that the USSR was tirelessly trying to break up into separate states, which could greatly harm the position of SovOil. Therefore, the corporation used all possible means to preserve the integrity of the Union.

Unfortunately, the economic successes of SovOil had little effect on the well-being of the inhabitants of the USSR. The country experienced one social crisis after another. The problems of the United States were still far away, but it was difficult to call the situation rosy.

The transition to a market economy against the background of a poverty-stricken social structure turned out to be fertile ground for the emergence of organized crime. As of 2023, the local syndicate “Organic” includes 180 thousand people from 8 thousand groups. In fact, this is another state within the USSR with its own army, taxes and other things, in the fight against which the law enforcement system is simply powerless. In addition to this, the syndicate controls about 200 organizations outside the country.

Criminals also have a certain weight in the political arena. Total corruption allows them to freely dispose of some state resources, though not at the SovOil level. Internal fragmentation prevents the syndicate from realizing its great ambitions. Despite their common name, the groups constantly confront each other and even fight.

The rest of the world (or what’s left of it) in the Cyberpunk universe

The European Economic Community, or Eurotheatre, is an alliance of a number of states created to ensure the best possible joint economic development. Несмотря на название, в него могут входить любые страны — например, в нём 20 лет состояла Япония. Наибольшей мощью среди них обладали Франция, Германия и Бенилюкс (союз Бельгии, Нидерландов и Люксембурга).

Великобритания оказалась одной из стран Европы, которой повезло меньше всех. В 2001-м в ходе переворота была уничтожена монархия — большинство членов королевской семьи были убиты, и к власти пришла военная диктатура. Вызванные этим беспорядки привели к краху страны. Половина жителей стала кочевниками, из-за этого опустели и постепенно разрушились города. Кроме того, не утихают конфликты между Англией и Шотландией, а также между роялистами и республиканцами.

Латинская Америка подверглась двум атакам Штатов. И хотя оба раза она смогла отбросить силы противника, потери всё равно были очень тяжёлыми. Зато это помогло установить крепкий союз между странами региона.

Австралия во многом повторила путь США. Страну сильно пошатнул кризис 1994 года. После этого экономика так и не смогла восстановиться, позволив конкурентам завоевать лидерство на международной арене. В 2001-м Западная Австралия отделилась, провозгласив независимость.

ОАЭ, Ирак, Иран, Ливия и Чад были уничтожены с помощью ядерного оружия в конце XX века. Это привело к резкому увеличению стоимости нефти.

Китай — один из главных стратегических союзников США. В 1990-х и 2000-х в стране разгорелась гражданская война. Правительство столкнулось с восстанием в Тибете, отделением Тайваня, мусульманскими террористами, но главной угрозой было движение маоистов, не признававших капиталистических реформ. Подавить конфликт удалось только благодаря союзу с США и корпорацией Militech.

Япония — одна из могущественнейших стран в мире и дом корпорации Arasaka. В 1996 году страна отказалась соблюдать постановление об отказе от формирования собственной армии и военного флота, выдворила американских военных и с тех пор неуклонно наращивала экономическую мощь. Японское правительство — одно из немногих в мире, которое способно хотя бы частично сдерживать мегакорпорации вроде Arasaka.

Так выглядит мир во вселенной Cyberpunk — тотальная разруха, всемогущество корпораций, постоянные войны и непрекращающиеся экологические катастрофы. Наш 2023 год по сравнению с этим вовсе не так уж и плох. А что случится в этой вселенной дальше, узнаем уже 10 декабря с релизом Cyberpunk 2077.