How 'Cyberpunk 2077' sold a promise—and rigged the system

Insert preview text here. View this email in your browser  |  Manage newsletter subscriptions  12.16.20   YEAR IN REVIEW The Best Pop Culture That Got Us Through 2020 BY WIRED STAFF These 48 movies, TV shows, albums, Twitter feeds, songs, podcasts, and books helped us get through this wildly unprecedented year.   YEAR IN REVIEW The Future of Social Media Is All Talk BY ARIELLE PARDES From Clubhouse to Discord to Twitter, 2020 was all about giving people a voice online. Literally.   GIFT GUIDE 24 Gifts We Love From BIPOC-Owned Businesses BY LOURYN STRAMPE AND WIRED STAFF These household gifts are perfect for anyone on your list.   BUGGING OUT How Cyberpunk 2077 Sold a Promise—and Rigged the System BY CECILIA D'ANASTASIO Video game companies are increasingly putting restrictions on what reviewers can show, widening the gap between expectations and reality.   SPONSORED CONTENT Give the Gift of STEM Learning Spread the love of learning with a Brilliant subscription gift. Help develop the skills that are crucial to school and career with over 60 interactive courses. GET WIRED Happy Holidays from WIRED. Plus get free stickers! Last chance to get one year of WIRED access for $10 $5. Tech news and analysis you won't find anywhere else. Subscribe now.   SPACE DUST How NASA Scrambled to Save OSIRIS-REx From Leaky Disaster BY CHRIS WRIGHT The $800 million craft successfully collected precious asteroid material from a near-Earth asteroid. Then it started spilling regolith into space.   GENETICS Cops Are Getting a New Tool For Family-Tree Sleuthing BY MEGAN MOLTENI Verogen's push into public crime labs with genetic genealogy may help solve more cold cases, but it raises concerns about DNA data collection.   NATIONAL STRATEGY Trump Could Torpedo a Bill to Boost Funding for AI BY WILL KNIGHT The National Defense Authorization Act would increase US investment by $6.4 billion over 5 years. But the president could veto it over other provisions.   MORE EQUAL Orwell's Animal Farm Sticks a Bit Too Close to the Source Material BY YUSSEF COLE Kudos to developer The Dairymen for tackling the classic parable, but a narrative focus means that players suffer the same lack of freedom as the game's characters.     This e-mail was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, wired@newsletters.wired.com, to your address book.   View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe or Manage your newsletter subscriptions