Cyberpunk 2077 gave V a silver arm — a visual identifier for Johnny Silverhand’s possessing influence — that players accept as aesthetic early in the game. The arm changes colour in specific lighting conditions: in dark environments with UV-adjacent lighting, specific circuitry patterns appear on the arm’s surface that are not visible in normal lighting.
The patterns, photographed by players using photomode with specific filter settings, spell characters in an Old English typeface corresponding to phrases from Johnny Silverhand’s song ‘Black Dog’ — the song that appears in the Phantom Liberty DLC and is discussed as Johnny’s most personally meaningful composition.
CD Projekt Red embedded song lyrics in hidden UV-reactive textures on a prosthetic arm that most players never examine in isolation from gameplay. The discovery required photomode, a specific filter, and knowledge of the song’s text to identify the characters.
The arm’s UV message was found in 2023, three years after launch, by a player using Phantom Liberty’s introduced song content to cross-reference body texture patterns. The DLC provided the key; the base game contained the cipher.
The craft that went into hiding this detail is remarkable. Pure game design artistry.
The level of craft hidden in the background is genuinely moving. They made it for someone.