There was a brief window where fans of CD Projekt Red and Studio Trigger’s anime of the year, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, thought they’d never get another look at the 2022 Netflix series that took the world by storm. Lo and behold, three years later, it’s back up as if it never left, with a prequel manga from Dark Horse, an anime sequel in the works, and a Blu-ray release coming later this year. In the meantime, gamers and anime fans alike are feasting on a new collab between CD Projekt Red and developer Arc System Works with Cyberpunk: Edgerunner‘s Lucy as a guest fighting game character in Guilty Gear Strive.
io9 spoke with Guilty Gear Strive producer Ken Miyauchi and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners producer Satoru Homma about how the bombastic 2D fighting game landed its first anime collab on August 21.
This interview took place before gameplay trailers for Lucy were available to the public.
Isaiah Colbert, io9: This is the first-ever crossover between Guilty Gear and an anime. What made Cyberpunk: Edgerunner‘s Lucy the ideal bridge between those worlds? Was Lucy always considered the prime choice to bring over from the anime, or did the team debate over bringing other characters?
Satoru Homma: Both CD Prokekt Red and Arc System Works agreed that out of all the Edgerunners characters, Lucy was an excellent fit for this collaboration. She is a key part of the show and comes equipped with a wide variety of attack options. She can use her Monowire for melee attacks, a handgun to engage enemies from a distance, and, of course, she can hack enemies.
io9: Lucy’s story in Edgerunners ends on a bittersweet note. How did it feel to bring her back in a new medium, arguably in a more high-octane, combative context with Guilty Gear Strive?
Homma: We worked hard to ensure that Lucy fit seamlessly into the world of Guilty Gear without compromising her personality. She remains cool and mysterious, staying true to her character. She doesn’t easily form friendships with the locals and might even perceive the experience as just another fictional scenario in a braindance. However, she does meet a few people there and enjoys a brief glimpse of their world.
io9: Guilty Gear characters are known for their expressive, over-the-top fighting styles. How did the Arc System Works team approach translating Lucy’s netrunner abilities of hacking and stealth in the anime into a compelling moveset?
Ken Miyauchi: When it came to designing Lucy, our team spent a great amount of time learning about not only Cyberpunk: Edgerunners but also Cyberpunk 2077 to understand how netrunners potentially fight. Both our battle designers and CD Projekt agreed that her core combat would mainly be based around quick-hack abilities, Monowire, and her pistol gun. We wanted to make sure her fighting style would not only capture Lucy’s personality from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners but also fit in the Guilty Gear Universe. We also wanted those Cyberpunk fans who like to play netrunner, can also play Lucy as a netrunner.
io9: Were there any particular challenges or breakthroughs in animating her combat style within the game’s engine?
Homma: Since Guilty Gear features bombastic action while our IPs are more grounded, it was a bit of a challenge to find the right balance. While Edgerunners is somewhat of an exception to our grounded style, given that it’s an anime, we still wanted Lucy to stay true to herself as depicted in the show. That meant avoiding super-crazy moves. Arc System Works was completely aligned with us on that front—for example, they faithfully reproduced the hacking interface from Cyberpunk 2077, allowing Lucy to cast Quickhacks on enemies! Overall, I think we managed to strike the perfect balance, making Lucy feel authentic while ensuring she remains an engaging character to play.
Miyauchi: When adapting a character into a fighting game, we started by defining the overall battle concept and then decided which special moves are necessary for that character. Thanks to CD Projekt’s very quick responses to the concepts we proposed, we were able to move into planning the character’s animations much more smoothly than expected.
io9: What kind of feedback have you seen from both the Strive and Edgerunners fanbases that you took into consideration as you developed her into a bona fide fighting character?
Homma: So far, I believe fans of both IPs are incredibly excited about Lucy’s addition to Guilty Gear! Personally, I can’t wait to try playing her myself!
Miyauchi: First and foremost, I wanted to make sure that players felt a strong sense of authenticity—that she truly is Lucy from Edgerunners. Once that was established, my hope was simply that fans would enjoy the freedom of being able to control her as they like.
io9: Guilty Gear‘s story mode is known for its depth. Will Lucy have any narrative presence in it, or is her role purely gameplay-focused?
Homma: Yes, Lucy will have her own story mode. According to Arc System Works, it seems her story mode will be longer than those of any other characters. There are plenty of interesting conversations between Lucy and other Guilty Gear characters, and CD Projekt Red dedicated a lot of time to reviewing them, ensuring Lucy reacts naturally to these individuals she’s never encountered before. Some of the interactions are truly hilarious, especially if you’re familiar with the lore of both games.
Miyauchi: Traditionally, Guilty Gear Strive‘s Arcade Mode changes in difficulty and dialogue depending on the results of each battle. For Lucy’s Arcade Mode story, however, we introduced a different structure where the story doesn’t branch. Instead, clearing Chapter 1 unlocks Chapter 2, and so on. I believe this approach created a story mode that both fanbases can really enjoy.
io9: Did Lucy’s addition influence any broader design decisions for Strive Season 4 or future content?
Miyauchi: If the chapter-style Arcade Mode receives a positive reception, we’re considering adopting it for future characters added in later updates. Also, I’d like to think about updates that will encourage players who started GGST because of Lucy to fall in love with Guilty Gear as a whole.
io9: Do you see this collab as the first of many crossovers between Edgerunners characters appearing in other games?
Homma: In fact, we’ve already announced an Edgerunners collaboration with Wuthering Waves! We firmly believe that passion is key to success for these collaborations. In the case of Arc System Works, it was absolutely clear that they genuinely loved our IP and were committed to ensuring our characters stayed true to their original depictions in the show, which made for an excellent collaboration.
io9: What do you hope fans of both franchises take away from Lucy’s inclusion in Guilty Gear Strive?
Homma: CD Projekt Red is a video game developer, but we focus on story-driven AAA games, so we’ve never created a fighting game of our own. That’s why we’re truly grateful to Arc System Works for making it possible to bring one of our characters into their game. We hope both communities can enjoy and appreciate the collaboration!
Miyauchi: I personally love Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, so I was truly delighted to have the chance to collaborate on this project. Becoming a fighting game character means giving players the joy of directly controlling that character themselves. So, I really hope that fans of Lucy will try out her version in GGST and share their impressions.
Guilty Gear Strive is available on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2.
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