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Play Cyberpunk 2077 first, start Phantom Liberty when Dogtown opens during the campaign, then return to the base game’s Point of No Return for a finale. You do not need to complete every side quest or reach a base-game ending before entering the expansion, but some companion and major-character arcs provide useful context. Make a manual save before the Point of No Return and before important Phantom Liberty branch decisions.
The short answer
Phantom Liberty is the story expansion attached to Cyberpunk 2077, not a separate prequel. The base game is therefore the only required earlier story. Steam lists the expansion as downloadable content that requires ownership of the base game; buying the expansion alone is not enough for a new player.
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The practical sequence is:
- Complete the opening of Cyberpunk 2077 and establish V’s principal relationships.
- Continue the main campaign until the expansion’s invitation and Dogtown introduction become available.
- Play Phantom Liberty, while continuing ordinary Night City activities whenever you wish.
- Return to the base game’s Point of No Return and choose a finale, keeping your manual saves available.
There is no earlier story expansion that must be played before Phantom Liberty. The board-game project announced for the Cyberpunk universe is related merchandise and a future tabletop opportunity, not required narrative material.
What is actually required before Phantom Liberty?
The base game
You need Cyberpunk 2077 itself. The expansion is delivered as downloadable content for that game, so a new player cannot use a standalone copy of Phantom Liberty as a substitute for the base campaign. On a store page, check that your purchase includes the base game or select a bundle that contains both.
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What is recommended, but optional?
Before entering Dogtown, finish enough of the base campaign to understand V’s central predicament and the major people who influence it. Completing additional companion arcs and substantial side quests is recommended because the expansion’s political and personal decisions have more weight when you know V’s existing commitments. This is context, not an unlock requirement: the game does not demand a fully cleared map or every optional mission.
What you do not have to do
- You do not need to complete a previous expansion; none exists in the story sequence before Phantom Liberty.
- You do not need to finish a base-game ending first.
- You do not need to buy a special edition if you already own the base game and can add the expansion separately.
- You do not need to complete every Night City side activity before Dogtown appears.
When should you start Phantom Liberty?
Wait for the in-game invitation
Keep progressing through the base campaign until the expansion becomes available in Dogtown. The game then provides an in-world invitation and introduction rather than asking you to launch a disconnected menu chapter. If Dogtown has not opened, continue the main story; purchasing the downloadable content does not by itself place V in the expansion’s starting scene.
Use the unlock as a pacing point
Once Dogtown is available, you can choose how much ordinary Night City content to do before committing to the expansion’s missions. A first-time player who wants the clearest character context should complete the companion and major-character arcs that already interest them, then enter Dogtown. A player focused on seeing the new story quickly can begin as soon as the invitation arrives and return to side content between expansion missions.
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The expansion opening is not the base game’s ending. You can play its story before the base-game finale and still return to the main campaign’s pre-finale state through the normal ending flow. The important exception is the Tower epilogue described below, which is intentionally handled as a final path.
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How much of the base story should you know?
For the strongest first playthrough
Advance through the opening and the major character arcs before entering Dogtown. This gives you an understanding of V’s goals, the relationships already at stake, and the institutions that shape Night City’s conflicts. You do not need to resolve every branch; the goal is to arrive with enough personal and political context for the expansion’s choices to feel connected to V’s life rather than appearing as an unrelated campaign.
For the least spoiler exposure
Play Phantom Liberty before seeing any base-game ending. This preserves the expansion’s ability to influence how you think about V’s possible futures without having an ending reveal frame every later decision. Keep a separate save before major expansion branches so you can explore alternatives without replaying the entire campaign.
For completionists using multiple runs
An ending-first replay is viable if your priority is cataloguing every conclusion rather than maintaining a first-playthrough reveal order. Finish one base-game route, reload a pre-finale save, and then enter Dogtown on another run. This approach gives you more comparative information, but it sacrifices the cleanest spoiler-light progression for a new player.
What is Phantom Liberty about? (Spoiler-light)
CD PROJEKT RED describes Phantom Liberty as “a spy-thriller expansion for Cyberpunk 2077.” V undertakes a high-stakes mission to save the NUSA President in Dogtown, a dangerous district ruled by arms dealer and warlord Kurt Hansen. The launch material also identifies NUSA secret agent Solomon Reed as a central figure.
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- 2025 CD PROJEKT S.A. All rights reserved. CD PROJEKT, the CD PROJEKT logo, the REDengine logo, Cyberpunk, Cyberpunk 2077, the Cyberpunk 2077 logo, Johnny Silverhand, the SAMURAI logo, Phantom Liberty and the Phantom Liberty logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of CD PROJEKT S.A. in the US and/or other countries. All other copyrights and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
That premise explains why the expansion benefits from some base-game context: it places V inside a national-security crisis involving powerful people and competing loyalties, rather than beginning as an isolated job. To keep the first encounter intact, do not look up the outcomes of the Songbird or Reed branches before playing. Their consequences are best discovered in-game.
The expansion launched on September 26, 2023, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and PC. A Steam listing displayed September 25 in its platform schedule; the dates describe the same launch window in different store or regional contexts, not two separate campaigns.
Three sensible play approaches
| Approach | How it works | Best for | Main trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Context-first (recommended) | Complete the opening and several companion or major-character arcs, start Dogtown when invited, then finish the base finale. | First-time players who want the political and personal stakes to land clearly. | You postpone the expansion while doing optional content. |
| Expansion as soon as it unlocks | Enter Dogtown immediately after the invitation and mix its missions with remaining Night City activities. | Players eager to reach the new story or beginning a replay. | Some relationships and background may have less context when the expansion raises its stakes. |
| Ending-first replay | Complete a base-game ending, reload a pre-finale save, then play the expansion and compare another finale. | Completionists and players deliberately studying alternate outcomes. | The first-run spoiler order is lost, and you may repeat late-campaign material. |
All three approaches use the same ownership requirement: the base game plus the expansion, or a bundle containing both. The decision is about narrative context and save management, not access to different versions of the story.
Save management and the Point of No Return
Create the important manual saves
- Before entering the base game’s Point of No Return, create a manual save in a clearly labelled slot.
- When a major Phantom Liberty branch decision is approaching, create another manual save rather than relying only on autosaves.
- Keep the pre-finale save even after completing an ending; it is the safest way to try a different route or enter Dogtown on a later run.
How normal ending flow behaves
In the game’s normal ending flow, completing a finale can return you to a state before the Point of No Return. That lets you continue optional activities or pursue another ending from the same character, provided you retain the relevant save.
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Why the Tower ending is different
CD PROJEKT RED Support states: “This is as designed. Players returning to the Point of No Return after The Tower ending would result in an uncanny narrative experience we wanted to avoid.” The support explanation adds that no rewards are gained during this epilogue, so the game and V’s story are allowed to end there.
In practical terms, treat The Tower / Things Done Changed epilogue as a final story path, not as a temporary ending screen that automatically restores your pre-finale state. Save before committing to the relevant route if you want to preserve a continuing playthrough.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Can Phantom Liberty lock you out of the rest of the game?
Starting the expansion before the base ending does not by itself lock you out of ordinary Night City content. You can move between Dogtown and the rest of the map after the expansion opens, and you can postpone the base-game Point of No Return while handling other missions.
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Lockout risk is concentrated in individual branch decisions and in the Tower epilogue’s deliberate finality. Manual saves are therefore more useful than trying to predict a universal “safe” order: preserve a pre-finale slot, preserve a slot before major expansion choices, and do not overwrite either while experimenting.
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Buying the right edition and checking platforms
| Purchase route | What it provides | Requirement or limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Base game plus Phantom Liberty DLC | The complete playable story when both products are owned. | The DLC requires the base game; the expansion alone is insufficient. |
| Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition | A bundle containing both Cyberpunk 2077 and Phantom Liberty, as listed on Steam. | Check the store listing for the platform and edition you are buying. |
| Supported PC or cloud route | The launch notice lists PC availability through Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store and GeForce Now. | Cloud availability is a platform option, not evidence that every storefront or catalogue carries the same edition. |
| Console version | The launch notice lists Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. | Confirm that your console edition supports the expansion before purchasing; the launch notice does not list older console generations for Phantom Liberty. |
If you already own the base game, adding the DLC is the direct route. If you own neither, the Ultimate Edition is the simplest way to avoid accidentally buying an expansion that cannot run without its base game.
A practical first-playthrough checklist
- Install or update the base game and verify that Phantom Liberty is attached to the same account and platform.
- Play the opening and follow the main campaign until Dogtown and the expansion invitation appear.
- Finish the companion arcs you want for context; leave unrelated side activities for later if you prefer.
- Make a manual save before the Point of No Return.
- Enter Dogtown and play the expansion, creating another manual save before major branch decisions.
- Return to the base campaign and select a finale from your preserved pre-finale state.
- If pursuing The Tower / Things Done Changed, treat that route as the end of V’s story and rely on your earlier save for any further experimentation.
How significant is Phantom Liberty?
The expansion is not a minor side episode: CD PROJEKT S.A.’s 2024 report records more than 5 million copies sold worldwide between its September 26, 2023 launch and the end of 2023. Sales do not determine the correct play order, but they reflect the expansion’s role as a major part of the Cyberpunk 2077 story rather than optional background lore.
For a first playthrough, the best balance is to establish V and the core relationships, enter Dogtown when the game invites you, preserve your saves, and postpone the base finale until the expansion is complete. That order supplies context without requiring a 100-percent completion run and protects you from losing access to the continuing pre-finale state after the Tower epilogue.
Quick Recap
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