Cyberpunk 2077 returns the favor with a Balatro quest

Cyberpunk 2077’s surprise Update 2.2 contains a few surprises not explicitly mentioned in the patch notes, like a crossover quest with Balatro, that roguelike poker game everyone’s been obsessed with all year.

Upon starting the game post-update, Cyberpunk 2077 players will receive texts from someone named Jim B asking them to locate graffiti of the Balatro logo throughout Night City. After tracking down several of these clown marks based solely on vague photos from Jim B, you’ll be rewarded with a new t-shirt emblazoned with a Cyberpunk-style Joker and a Balatro decoration for your apartment.

“Some time ago, I asked the quest design team at CD Projekt Red: ‘You liked the Cyberpunk cards in Balatro? What if we had Balatro cards in Cyberpunk 2077?’” CD Projekt Red global PR director Radek Grabowski wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Thanks to the talented quest designer Maria Mazur, we now have the Balatro quest in Update 2.2. Amazing work, Maria!”

The Cyberpunk 2077 and Balatro teams previously collaborated on a special set of cards designed for the latter’s second Friends of Jimbo update, which added custom art of Jackie Welles, Rogue Amendiares, and Johnny Silverhand to the Jack, Queen, and King of Spades respectively.

“Just like The Witcher and Cyberpunk cards in Balatro, the ‘Cyberpunk Joker’ you can now discover in Cyberpunk 2077 as part of the Update 2.2 has been created in-house by Olgierd Ciszak - one of CD Project Red’s talented artists,” Grabowski wrote in a follow-up post.

And if you like the in-game items so much you want to match your in-game character, CD Projekt Red is also selling actual clothing based on the Cyberpunk 2077 x Balatro crossover.