Keanu Reeves says he never played Cyberpunk 2077, Despite CD Projekt's earlier statements

Johnny Silverhand, contrary to what CD Projekt stated, is not a gamer.

Image Keanu Reeves

Despite the previous confirmation from CD Projekt that he enjoyed playing Cyberpunk 2077, Keanu Reeves maintains he's never really played the game.

A recent interview conducted by Polygon's sister site The Verge with The Matrix Resurrections stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss has been circulating the Internet for a variety of reasons. One example is Reeves' amusing skepticism about NFTs and how simple it is to replicate their images. Another reason is Reeves' chemistry with Moss when they talk about technology — he the wide-eyed visionary, she the hesitant cynic. He stated that he did not. When questioned about Cyberpunk, Reeves replied, "I mean, I've seen demonstrations, but I've never played it."

But it was Reeves' quick revelation that he had never played the game in which he starred, Cyberpunk 2077, which debuted a year ago, that drew the most attention. The admission, which was first seen on Reddit by a now-deleted user, clearly contradicts claims made by CD Projekt Red CEO Adam Kiciski in late 2020.

The discussion turns to other games in which the two have represented characters during the interview, which promotes Epic Games' playable Unreal Engine 5 demo The Matrix Awakens. Moss' time in the Mass Effect series is briefly mentioned, and Reeves says Warner Bros. "is like 'Where's the ball?'" Oh, you're referring to the ball you threw 15 years ago?" in response to a question concerning a different Matrix game

Last year, CD Projekt President and Joint CEO Adam Kiciski stated Reeves had been playing Cyberpunk 2077 during a CD Projekt earnings call. Kiciski claimed Reeves "played the game and he loves it," according to a transcript of the meeting obtained by Seeking Alpha.

At the time, Reeves' participation in the game made the news. It was "a satisfying and pretty meta concept to image Reeves conversing with his in-game character Johnny Silverhand," according to TheGamer, which first noticed the inconsistency in 2020.

If Reeves had played the game before it was released, he might have observed what other gamers did: the game was plagued by launch issues that continued long into 2021. Because of the issues, Sony decided to offer full refunds to individuals who purchased the game digitally, as well as remove it from their shop. In July 2021, the game was re-released on the Sony shop.

In the interview, Reeves enthusiastically embraces the concept of Johnny Silverhand being sought for sex by Cyberpunk players, and finds it "great," in multiple possible senses of the term, that today's kids reject the duality of real and fake presented by the first Matrix film.

However, he appears to draw a line when it comes to video games. In his defense, Cyberpunk would have been a poor choice for a first game.