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Cyberpunk 2077's Night City infiltrated by Balatro's giggling joker in 2.2 update secret

Two pair.

Extreme close up of a Balatro Joker plushie toy
Image credit: Localthunk

Cyberpunk 2077's new update includes a secret crossover with infectious card game roguelike Balatro.

The 2.2 update includes various new features and quality of life improvements, as well as "secrets". Now we know that includes a questline to follow some Joker graffiti throughout Night City to find... well that would be telling.

"Hey @CyberpunkGame, what the hell is this?" quipped the Balatro X account with a screenshot of some hidden joker graffiti.

REDstreams - Cyberpunk 2077 | Update 2.2 OverviewWatch on YouTube

CD Projekt Red's global PR director Radek Grabowski shared the post, adding: "Some time ago, I asked the Quest Design team at CDPR: 'You liked the Cyberpunk cards in Balatro? What if we had Balatro cards in Cyberpunk 2077?' Thanks to the talented Quest Designer Maria Mazur, we now have the Balatro quest in Update 2.2. Amazing work, Maria!"

What's more, there's crossover merch too, available to pre-order from the CD Projekt Red store.

This isn't the first time these two games have collaborated. Back in October, Balatro developer LocalThunk added a second Friends of Jimbo Pack featuring joker cameos from popular games: Stardew Valley, The Binding of Isaac, Slay the Spire, and of course Cyberpunk 2077.

It's a timely addition too, considering Balatro's huge spike in popularity ahead of tonight's The Game Awards. It was also nominated in next year's BAFTA longlist.

LocalThunk also revealed yesterday Balatro has now sold 3.5m units. Last month we reported the game had made almost $4.4m from its mobile release alone.

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