The Megacorps You Should Never Work for in Cyberpunk 2077

A Deep Dive into the alleged Top 5 Big Corporations to work for in Night City. This videos uncovers just a handful of their atrocities and attempts to rank them...
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Comment below what you found most disturbing in Cyberpunk 2077! #cyberpunk2077 #cyberpunk #gaming
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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
00:49 Arasaka
08:27 Kang Tao
12:37 Militech
17:55 Biotechnica
23:12 NightCorp
28:49 Conclusion

[@eldibs]

Picking the best megacorp to work for is like picking the best serial killer to be murdered by.

[@SamBram]

Lol, love this analogy!

[@khadacoveiro1363]

or picking what cancer you wanna have

[@mavcotm8006]

​@@khadacoveiro1363 i would choose testicular cancer so they remove them...they hurt so much, i will have no weaknesses left!

[@Gamefreakjl]

​@@khadacoveiro13639y98969-82

[@saunga1]

Mind if I use this analogy in my fan fiction? It's too good to pass up.

[@SPARKLYDEATHCAT]

My dad is a Veteran and the long contracts that Militech use to confuse people sounds a lot like the V.A and how awful they treat active and retired military in the U.S.

[@ScytheNoire]

You can thank those politicians who never served and vote against supporting veterans and military service members. But hey, they'll vote for tax cuts for the wealthy and welfare for billionaires and corporations.

[@maiqtheliar789]

A lot of that is veterans and service members don't educate themselves on this stuff before they join. So they don't keep good records and can't prove that things are service connected when they go to apply for disability and other benefits. The enlistment contracts aren't complex at all. They are pretty straight forward even. The VA system though is separate from the DOD and they have their own system that is easy to get lost in. If a Service member actually uses the sick call system and keeps good records and such the VA usually isn't to bad to deal with. If you get everything service connected even better. I made sure I kept good copies of all my records and I made sure I used the sick call system while I was in. A lot of young folks don't think ahead 10 or 15 years when all those "minor" injuries they ignored become worse and then aren't so minor anymore. My dad was a Vietnam vet who had to fight the VA for decades. He made sure I knew what I needed to know before I even went to basic training.

[@theperson8539]

@@maiqtheliar789 Still predatory to not facilitate that for your soldiers. Don't enough people struggle through this that they would think to at least hold a mandatory seminar on all this? If not overhaul the system to actually do what it is meant to do. You act like these people aren't doing their jobs, when they in fact do all that is expected of them, and that the simple red line of documentation makes it okay for them to be treated poorly.

[@josephwalters2692]

​@theperson8539 There is a mandatory seminar where you get this information as part of a three month long check list of mandatory tasks required before separation. A few of those involve the VA

[@theperson8539]

@@josephwalters2692 Okay. Is that a newer development? Or an old one? I'm just saying, if this is a widespread issue, then there have to be steps taken by the authority in charge to see why their service isn't being used. I mean, this discourse aims to get Veterans what they need, right? Or at least to see how that gets accomplished.

[@enoughothis]

The trick with the Corps is the same trick used if you really want to make money working for the government: be a 3rd party contractor. Don't work for them directly, they'll treat you like garbage and make you follow all sorts of rules. Work as an independent contractor or consultant and they pay you double what they pay their own people for the same work.

[@SamBram]

Is this in reference to real life now? Because I've found this to often be the case irl. Being hired in for specific jobs and days is often paid a lot better than being an employee. Mind you, there's more hunting around on your part and you don't get any company benefits. But in the context of 2077, I'd take being a 3rd party contractor any day

[@enoughothis]

@@SamBram, yes it was in reference to real world realities. As above so below.

[@romainbanks356]

@@SamBram I'm in software dev in EU and at the exception of very big corp or very specific conditions, as a contractor you get at least double what they give their employee. As a contractor you get no other benefits but these become rarer and rarer for regular employee and are often not that great or even nonexistent (with the exception of what the state force them to give witch does not count)

[@Glumpsy]

Ha. Worked in maintenance in a state run hospital. Fixing furniture, replacing locks, hanging shelves. Sometimes they hired contractors for larger scale renovations - showed my paycheck to one of them, she asked how I even survive.

[@JohnZ117]

That big hospital in Watson? Go around back, on the right hand side. You'll find the corpse of someone working for a Corp that wanted to stay independent.

[@KTKocks]

Something I found interesting, while roaming the city, I came across two Biotechnica agents discussing that a certain cognitive implant was made mandatory to keep the job. This implant was to allow Biotechnica to read your mind and monitor if employees had anti-corp thoughts

[@drinkwwwaterrr]

I remember seeing that, it's honestly terrifying to think of but also an evolution of how everything is recorded nowadays

[@SherrifOfNottingham]

The sad part is that the flavor dialogue doesn't make sense when you think about it, if they are _going_ to have that chip mandatory to intrude your thoughts, they very likely have ways of monitoring their employees in their conversations, so these two likely lost their jobs to drop this bit of world building on you. Which is the real kicker, they don't need the brain implant chips to control our thoughts, even here on KZbin if you use certain words (like the F word) in a KZbin comment it's likely the auto-moderation will delete your comment, or give the power of anybody that hits the report button on it to delete the comment. Which actually molds what we are willing to say, which can over time actually control the language we _think_ with. As algorithms are more capable of catching phrases out specifically we learn to stop using phrases, and while we can applaud this system used for hate speech now, what happens when they can add any word to this censor to prevent themselves from looking bad. I mean they don't even need to do "obvious" banning, imagine that ever time you use the word "Twitch" in a KZbin comment that your comment gets shadow banned so nobody else sees it, so nobody responds to it, as you get no likes and no replies it hits your soul. If you're not stuck on a banned topic, you'll subconsciously notice that nobody cares whenever you talk about Twitch and you'll shut up about it. Censorship can psychologically train people now, while a brain implant is an object we can point to and understand, it's widely unnecessary when our current tools of algorithms is quite capable of not only being able to understand the psychology of each user, but also mold their speech and the ideas that they discuss until we actually witness a change in their psychology. I mean, at least every time I hear that piece of dialogue I get depressed at the realization that they don't need brain implants to do that, and how screwed those two probably are since their conversations are very likely to be closely monitored by an algorithm that is very capable of determining their "anti-corp thoughts"

[@fafnyr2537]

Its actually trauma team employees, and if you read the comics of same name (its great comic btw), id say i agree with them given what happens in the comics..

[@plasmaxl8626]

@@SherrifOfNottingham i know its said a lot lol, but this is the entire concept behind 1984. I find the idea of information control equating to reality control very facinating- and definitely something worth talking about

[@alpha_9997]

@@SherrifOfNottinghamthis is only a problem if you dont talk to other people or use less mainstream websites. Shadow banning exists, but its pretty easy to test

[@Jake-ei3wc]

It wouldve been cool if the corpo path had more unique opportunities in missions rather than just dialog options

[@glennboyce7753]

Honestly all the life paths needed that.

[@fumetsu-950]

@@glennboyce7753 well lets hope we get more missons when phantom liberty releases. its hard to belive they wont add any new jobs outside of dogtown

[@russelljacob7955]

As a side perspective, this is how other starts are too. The bigger consideration is what those dialog options can lead to. Also, there are ways to approach missions etc that even if dont say corpo, are "corpo". My very first playthrough was corpo start and my focus on play was a a full blooded corpo, faith to the end. I roleplayed corpo in everything from skill choice to mission play. Much different than my normad or streetkid playthrough. Three playthroughs, all different because played character different. Even my second corpo runthrough was different because the dialog, combat and mission approach built off a different theme. With this one being a corpo feeling betrayed and renouncing corpo life. While more unique missions of course would be more fun, the game already is so can play the same missions many different ways.

[@glennboyce7753]

@@fumetsu-950 I agree with that but I have to upgrade my computer though

[@Yusuke_Denton]

@@russelljacob7955 Can you give a more detailed example of how someone can "roleplay corpo/nomad/streetkid in everything from skill choice to mission play"?

[@estaveler3288]

“Your prostate is arasaka property i will be taking it back” meme that sums up what its like to quit working for arasaka

[@KmanK887]

"If you are unfortunate enough to have to get a job out in the Night City where the corporations treat their employees more like tool than a person" As someone who has been in a corporate world for nearly a decade, I can assure you that it is not just in Night City. Trust me.

[@Ozzianman]

Spent about 5 months in a corporate environment, jumping off the bridge started being tempting, quit and got a job in a smaller business sparing my sanity. Overall I regret going into IT. Most of it is medium - big corp and I really do not like office politics. It's probably because I am autistic, but I really do not understand how people do it. How people are able to tolerate all the bs.

[@pmpowalisz]

Bet you could vacation more than six days a year, have only sixty hour work weeks, and be legally allowed to leave the company in under a decade. Honestly the Cyberpunk 2077 universe makes even the Fallout universe (pre and post Great War) look like a more fulfilling place to live or die in, which I believe is saying something.

[@vitmartobby5644]

Pretty realistic if you ask me, ngl.​@@pmpowalisz

[@bsgfan1]

There are only 2 corporations that are somewhat trustworthy: Trauma Team and Netwatch Trauma Team is greedy for sure, but profit is their only angle and the service they provide is actually beneficial. If you can afford it, they’re reliable and generally don’t have any underhanded motives. Netwatch is just as shady and corrupt as any other megacorp when it comes to people. But concerning the blackwall and rogue AI’s, they absolutely do not fuck around. They’re somewhat of an anti-villain in cyberpunk; doing the wrong things for the right reasons. Controlling the net may seem totalitarian, but when you consider what’s on the other side of the blackwall and that some runners actively try to support them, net restrictions are a small price to pay for the safety of the entire human race.

[@clarencewalters338]

The problem is Netwatch is lying, they played a role in the Blackwall's creation and/or discovery, but they have ZERO control over it. Most of the work was done by Transcendental AI and if the public knew that they'd lose all faith in Netwatch because the "last bastion for humanity" was primarily made and controlled by AI.

[@emperorofpluto]

Having worked for two of the largest global investment banks I can assure you the corporate hellscape of Cyberpunk 2077 is not too far removed from contemporary reality. I get the impression the corporations of Cyberpunk were inspired by the _zaibatsu_ monster corporations of pre-1945 Japan eg. Mitsubishi. God I love Night City’s richly detailed dystopia and really enjoy your videos.

[@baconbro304]

I'm gonna assume there isn't as much blackmail and murder

[@caligo7918]

@@baconbro304 less murder, more blackmail, probably. Also, driving someone into suicide is a japanese classic...

[@suburbantimewaster9620]

I know Trauma Team's system isn't that much different from America's health care system but I didn't know that about corporations.

[@WeedmanSkirr]

@@suburbantimewaster9620 like its obv isnt it? big corps make big money by exploiting, thats the basic of capitalism and we live in a capitalistic world, so cyperpunk (in politic and corporation way) is a quite realistic future, sad that people dont see this tho, there is so much media telling you and even if you aint watching media its still obv. af.

[@Nickname-ef9tv]

Cyberpunk 2077 was incepted in 1988 when Reagonomics was all the rage and Japan was in a particularily strong economic position. Hence the strong emphasis on megacorporations, zaibatsus and Japanese culture.

[@WalkinStereotype]

The sad thing is, the six paid vacation day benefit for biotechnica is more than my irl job gives.

[@qp9vp]

I get 31 per year. Was 25 before my 40th birthday. Leave the US mate. Move to Europe and enjoy a better life.

[@Nocturne05]

Redid the quest with Gary the Prophet and I realized something, he may have been that Night Corp employee that they were experimenting on. At the end of the quest his disciple says he was carried off by suits with "blue eyes", and then she repeats his warnings after you show her the chip "the eternal NIGHT is coming, they're going to turn is into puppets!" You may want to do a deep dive on Gary.

[@matthewjobin6665]

Wow, that’s nuts, I completely forgot about the “blue eyes” comment from him.

[@gaunterodimm5974]

15:09 Wraiths aren't nomads. I forgot what shard I read it but they're outcasts. They're undesirables ousted from clans who did horrid stuff or criminals from the city on the run. They band together because it improves their chances of survival and not because they want to. It's been explicitly stated in the shard that if you refer to raffen shiv as 'nomads' in front of a true nomad you're gonna lose a tooth or two

[@tron9683]

They're still technically nomads (whether a "true" nomad likes it or not), but they were casted out from their clans.

[@gaunterodimm5974]

@@tron9683 depends on your definition of 'nomad'. I, for one, only identify nomads as those who left the cities in protest of corporate greed. Just like how the founder of the aldecaldos left and started his own nomad nation because he became distrustful of the system

[@nts4906]

@@gaunterodimm5974 but the term 'nomad' IRL just refers to an individual or group of people that travels from location to location, instead of staying in one place. A wanderer or wandering tribe

[@henryfontaine8624]

The Wraiths are so called Raffen Shiv people who were cast out by their Clan and are not part of the seven nomad Nations anymore. They are still nomads since they have not permanent settlements and are more equivalent to the Gangs in NC.

[@TheNukedNacho]

“It’s a pretty well armed vessel, but is taken on by us without too much trouble.” To be fair, to crash the damn thing wasn’t easy. The EMP which also cost half Night City it’s power, and Panam’s Javelin-esque rocket launcher. And that’s just for a single AV. I doubt many people could pull off anything similar.

[@ciaranbrk]

If nightcorp announced their use of an AI I could very easily imagine Netwatch declaring war on them.

[@alexmin4752]

I suppose NightCorp IS a rogue AI with a bunch of proxies (those blue eyed guys)

[@user-ik6oc2un7r]

@@alexmin4752 it seems like being Ai is exactly that type of cure Blue Eyed offers So Mi and V.

[@alexmin4752]

@@user-ik6oc2un7r If V wanted to become AI he/she could've just joined Alt in Mikoshi. No need to go for extremely dangerous orbital heist.

[@dair_9570]

​@@alexmin4752No, you become part of Alt not an independent AI

[@peerschulz2029]

​@@alexmin4752OK, lets be honest here: I hate the (percieved) ambivalence of V flatlining or not, since at the end of the day their problem seems to be a non-issue... Yes, the entire wild-ride of a story is simply because V panics when they hear "hey, if nothing is done about this you're fucked!" but if we take a look at the CP lore there are multiple solutions for them. By the end you "just" need a new body (we literally meet several charakters who plan to/ did hop bodies so...). Yes, you could have surgery (probably even without the coma and chrome-loss, cause lets be fair this is because you got screwed by the NUSA, who actually wanted the relic). Then there also is your I'd call it "ghost in the shell"-solution of V turning fully digital and using his old body as a proxy (not like "Jonnys" brain would have a choice).

[@blight4519]

Wow i didn't realize the kang tao people would be chill in that gig and i annihilated them before they even got out of the car Edit: Seems like the better decision anyway

[@brendanwatroba8568]

I let them kill the corpo that messed up, and as soon as they acted invincible and disrespectful I stopped time and beat them all to death with my gorilla arms

[@tropicalstorm24]

I usually light them up regardless because I like Karl

[@-_-5470]

Nightcorp sounds like the worst for me. Manipulating someone's free will is the worst you can do

[@user-kz2cd1oj3k]

I would love a game set in cyberpunk 2077 where you play as a corporate grunt. Trying to survive the in-fighting of Militech or Arasaka.

[@TheMrDewil]

Well, for now there's no telling what the next CP game will be. Might be just that. Maybe an undercover employee scheming and plotting its way to steal corporation secrets.

[@chaplainfatty]

​@@TheMrDewilplease do not call it that...

[@rafsandomierz5313]

@@TheMrDewil Sounds like industrial spying.

[@apatheticobserver5290]

that sounds like a game adaptation of the Belko Experiment and I am completely for it.

[@leolopp]

There's always the TTRPG, assuming you can find a game master to run it of course, but that isn't too hard given that is one the most popular TTRPG for awhile. Hell people still play the second edition even with RED being the newest book

[@brendanwatroba8568]

Don't see much of them in game, but I can't imagine PetroChem would be fun to work for

[@SamBram]

Main stuff I've seen with petrochem is that they dump hazardous materials near rancho coronado and cause a bunch of health problems for surrounding citizens. You'll probs get exposed to all sorts working for them too

[@akatsukicloak]

There is a message you can find in-game "please rescue me" of a worker in USSR begging someone to come save him from slavery working in an a Arasaka factury in Poland. Citing long working conditions with barely any sleep or food.

[@SamBram]

I found that too! In a Dogtown Airdrop. Was very interesting and awful. Gonna have to mention it in another video when relevant

[@apostolos8734]

What’s sad about the 6 paid vacation days thing is that a lot of us companies in the real world don’t offer that.

[@RaidenKaiser]

Millitech's rocky relationship with Arasaka is prob why they didn't intercept and crush V and his crew after interacting with Meridith. They probably seen it as a win win situation. If they fail their little heist then they get to blame the whole thing on them but if they succeed they get to brag about how good their tech is and still blame the whole mess on V's crew. No matter what they still get to make a mess for arasaka and lose nothing.

[@ssjjshawn]

If Militech knew that the Panzer heist may lead to some random Runner dealing as bad of a blow to Arasaka as it did, they would have handed over an entire Tank Division. The NUSA and Militech do not like that Arasaka is back in Night City.

[@Gam3Junkie7]

I would like to say I'd be a Nomad, but as a tenderfoot I would likely just try to find work with a low turnover rate. That said, being a garbage man for NightCorp seems to be a pretty sweet gig.

[@SamBram]

Sounds pretty chill. Until one day where Night Corp condition you to run into a wrestling ring throwing trash everywhere and yelling that you're the trash man!

[@B4dr4bbit]

Sounds like a better deal

[@jonathanoriley8260]

I'm too much of a freedom and family loving rebel to be anything other than a Nomad. Also, being a Nomad and saying f**k you to the tyranny of government and corporation is the most American thing you can do in the world of Cyberpunk 2077.

[@stevkemp7]

I was waiting for you to make this video. Hopefully, one day we get a video where you can tell what it's like working for smaller factions such as NCPD or Trauma Team? 🤔

[@jonathanoriley8260]

@@spritsfal5088 Literally no evidence to back up that absurd claim. In lore, Nomads thrive outside the cities. You're just jealous of that kind of freedom you'll never have lolol Regardless, it's better to die standing than live kneeling.

[@Nunya_Argo79]

What I noticed in the city, is there is a lot of "black ops" type of soldiers who have no identity or affiliation, but have gear similar to Militech and vehicles very similar, too. Sometimes they're dressed out in civilian clothes, too. They're a very odd organization and I'm disappointed we don't know more about all the other ones. Hopefully in a sequel they showcase them more. I'd also like to know what the rest of Cyberpunk's world looks like, besides just Night City.

[@mat3693]

I’m fairly certain those are just freelance teams of solo’s and other professional mercs hired by third parties to do their dirty work. It’s highly likely that they’re on not just Militech’s payroll, but also that of other megacorporations. For them it’s probably cheaper than sending in their own operatives and gives them deniability if the mission goes wrong.

[@Shamino1]

Arasaka has been stealing and giving out Millitech gear to Nomads, hiring the Nomads to do assaults on Arasaka property. Arasaka wants to create a false-flag operation in Night City to justify a quick 5th corporate war.

[@Yusuke_Denton]

Working for an evil corp is awesome if you have good benefits and are friends with the top brass. My corpo V knew fully what atrocities Arasaka had been up to, but was expecting to be handsomely rewarded by Hanako-sama with a cushy position and company shares for helping her take over. (in addition to curing the Relic sickness) Needless to say he and I were more than a little disappointed that she apparently forgot we even existed after all that. Oh well I guess there really are no friends in the corpo life. PS. Nice video choom. As former counterintel I'll let you in on a little secret. Abernathy didn't kill herself. ;)

[@dehydrateddarkness3565]

The thing is... Hanako is just busy. She makes you her personal solo/bodyguard if you return to Earth

[@tron9683]

You weren't actually surprised that she "forgot" about you, were you?

[@TheRealDrSick]

Jokes on you. Takemura says Hanako forgot about you then a few minutes later says that Hanako sent him to talk with you. They want you to join Secure Your Soul so they can experiment on your engram

[@Yusuke_Denton]

​@@TheRealDrSick Fuuu-

[@Sorain1]

@@TheRealDrSick Presumably to figure out how the feth V managed to survive all that they did. How they went from 'typical nobody merc' to 'can take on entire corporate strike teams' so fast. Especially if it's something the Relic's tech can let them replicate.

[@badoobles]

The thing is, as far as I understand, most corpo contracts are comparable to Kang Tao. That's why it's considered such an amazing feature for Arasaka to only be 20 years. For just about all others you're looking at 40 or 50 just like Kang Tao. So most of the arguments about slaving hours and wages can be made for all of them. Which in my opinion makes Kang Tao suddenly not so bad. At least compared to Militech, but maybe even Biotechnica.

[@OldTownCrab]

Biotechnica willingly sells busted medicen so i would say Kang Tao is better

[@davidwhitfield6025]

As one who prefers playing the Corpo background I as V prefer being a solo to working directly to any corp. I still prefer being a ex-corporat to being a Street Kid or a nomad but only for the appreciation of how truly awful they all really are. That being said I used to play the original Cyberpunk back in the 90s and my group felt Nightcorp was the least awful being, in 2020, focussed on urban renewal rather than trying to dominate the world like Arasaka and Militech. Personally horrified to see how far down Nightcorp had fallen in 2077 and I question whether there are any humans left actually running the company. It feels as if Rogue AI may completely dominated the company.

[@zzz-mm8bn]

My guess from playing nomad and interacting with Meredith at the beginning is that Militech is scrambling to prevent the loss of their convoys. Nomad V tries to cut a deal and says Militech is a regular target of the nomads due to some common holes in their defenses. This probably means Militech is frustrated with nomad ambushes and does a haphazard job trying to eradicate them.

[@issaikh]

One thing that bothered me about the lore/world building is that entire idea of 80+ hour work weeks. Your point about treating employees like assets instead of humans is acknowledged, but doesn't really change the math. An efficient corporation manages its assets wisely. *Especially* in a world where people who are hooked up to advanced tech, and therefore are vulnerable to cyber psychosis if/when they snap, it behooves any employer to manage those risks. I don't care how many hormone blockers and life coaches you have on staff to facilitate extreme working conditions, at the point of 80 hours/week, with everyone wired to the gills for peak efficiency, you'd have employees in basically every sector going psycho each week, which necessitates either filling their spot, or restructuring your workplace. And that assumes they don't go psycho *at* work, which is a decent chance if they were working 80+ hours/week, thus, er, "vacating" other job spots. The reality is, especially with all of the tech assistance of 2077, working assets to self destruction is incredibly stupid, and would open up any branch manager to being fired or killed when their branch suffers dips in productivity when they have to account for workplace volatility. Not to say that working for the mega corps would necessarily be *fun*, but I feel like, given all of the efficiency boosting tech available to the elites of society, it would be much more logical for the "evil corp" to just work people 40-60 hours a week, at a ruthless pace enforced by surveillance tech. It's just efficient asset management.

[@shorewall]

Yeah, it isn't realistic at all. But it is meant to be satire. I always roll my eyes when when people are like, "This is just like my life, fr fr." But irl corpos are similar, in spirit, if not degree. I don't even think the corpos intend it, but when you have such a big corpo, there is so much waste, middle management layers, politics, peverse incentives, and thoughtlessness involved. If we had a competitive market, these corpos would be out of business so fast, they are just so inefficient. They only succeed by being too big to fail. And they lobby the government, which is essentially a corpo of its own. Tons of bureaucracy, tons of internal layers, politics, and thoughtlessness. Neither corpos nor governments need to make a good product, or satisfy customers. They make their money another way. Governments make money through the money printer (which causes inflation and hurts everyone) and debt spending. And corpos make money through public investment (people forced to invest in order get a return that beats inflation) and debt (the value of which shrinks over time because of inflation.) So it's a perverted virtuous cycle.

[@cynicalmemester1694]

It depends on how chipped in your employees are. V in the beginning of the corpo lifepath wasn't really that borged out, even including the hormone blockers. Cyberpsychosis can only occur if your body is heavily chipped, having a hormone blocker or two isn't enough to make you snap. It depends heavily on the cybernetics too. There is a shard in Cyberpunk that states that corporate issued cyberware was specifically designed to make workers work long hours without any kind of fatigue. So while they still might feel alot of stress, it likely wouldn't be as much if they weren't chipped.

[@ThirdXavier]

Yeah I completely agree with this and it shows in the real world too, since we're actually trending into shorter work weeks over time rather than longer. 80+ hour work weeks helps sell the dystopian atmosphere but its not what realistically will happen even as our own society takes on elements of cyberpunk fiction over time.

[@peerschulz2029]

Honestly I'd guess a lot of these 80hrs/week could be described as "field-time" (kind of like on-call BUT they expect you to pack heat in case of need) considering how closely tied the corpos often are to the gangs (or regular on-call). So you're actually "only" working your (probably still) 50-60hrs but get paid the full amount (but you better be at work within the hour if needed)

[@atlas_6655]

We only see Arasaka from an American perspective, in Japan they are seen as a great company that invests a lot in infrastructure, security, and charity.They also run parts of the government and Japan in lore is considered a much better place than the US. It's a part of Saburo's whole "Japan is the greatest nation in the world" schtick. They are an evil company, but you didn't mention that part.

[@ellyann4603]

They are still a weapon selling corpo. Yes Japan thrive thanks to Arasaka but how many country are in deep shit because Arasaka needs wars to make money ^^' And i'm not really sure but didn't we learn in the game that Arasaka is too strong and some people in the japanese government do not like that very much.

[@atzangray-dorito9004]

Takemura mentioned how Arasaka rounded up poor boys from the slums and churned them into the military, with ones with potential being granted education.

[@ellyann4603]

@@atzangray-dorito9004 yeah they turned kids into super soldier with lots of implants and military training, what great people they are ^^'

[@radeksilar543]

point is, that Arasaka is giving most resources only to Japan, with burned ground all around rest. Japan-centric corp

[@paulleach3612]

@@atzangray-dorito9004 You ever see that movie Soldier?

[@AngelusNielson]

Trauma team is more than an ambulance. They will send armed forces in to pretty much anywhere to get you safe and out. Remember the first mission after V gets kicked to the curb?

[@Kristers_K]

Ye when i heard about the work schedule and chemical boosters used, let's be honest, in real life something like that would absolutely destroy a person physically and mentally very quickly, the body would just shut down from severe exhaustion, and it's quite likely the heart would just stop. Corpos may be rich...but damn, that has to be a miserable, miserable existence...far worse than those on the streets. Makes me pity Takemura even more, loyal as a dog, but blind and blissfully ignorant.

[@ghostninja1874]

Don't pity Takemura he was at the top as bodyguard/assassin to the CEO. How they treated him and how they treat the grunts at the bottom are completely different. With minor exceptions for certian betrayals they treated him like family you can tell by their interactions with each other.

[@cynicalmemester1694]

Corporate issued Cyberware likely mitigates the side effects of constantly being drugged up. But it still fucks you up, that's how bad working conditions are in 2077.

[@alexmin4752]

Well, in cyberpunk they have nanotechnology and the ability to replace any body part asides of brain with chrome or GMO organs so exhaustion might be less of a problem.

[@usmctwin61]

Your videos have been keeping my interest for Phantom Liberty to release.

[@poromafia]

Im pretty sure Yorinobu had Abernathy killed as part of his plan to demolish Arisaka. Realistically if you're planning something like that you first have to take out the people whose job it is to make sure it doesn't happen.

[@tron9683]

If that were true, then he would've had her killed much sooner, and not near the end of the game. She was still very much in charge of the counterintel division until we learn that she killed herself just a couple of days or so before we raid Arasaka Tower. The suicide story is likely false, but I doubt that Yorinobu had anything to do with it.

[@reubensemmanuel5926]

Been waiting on this one!!! Trauma team and the other frontlines next!!

[@VinnValor]

3:43 If anyone's wondering how much that would be in USD in the cyberpunk universe; according to the Cyberpunk Fandom Wiki, that would be 1.78 Trillion in USD.

[@phoenix-ui9eq]

i appreciate all this 2077 content! and once phantom liberty is out and all the stuff in that has been analysed maybe you could do similar content for similar light rpg titles such as fallout etc, or potentially mod content for 2077? just ideas lol as i love this content

[@SamBram]

I defo have more long term plans for other RPGs and games in general. Starfield will defo be something I cover content on! I'd love to go back and do fallout and elder scrolls but first I'd have to find topics which nobody has covered before. I'd need to invest a lot more time into those worlds which currently I don't have but maybe in the future once I'm doing less Cyberpunk stuff

[@djwindkind]

love your deep dives!

[@briangoubeaux5360]

Can you also do a deep dive on the other corps as well? Hearing about Netwatch and Trauma Team as well as Channel 54 would clarify the scale of Corp understanding better.

[@5brags455]

The tree trimming company I work for only gives 8 vacation days a year. Can't help but laugh hearing Biotechnica's yearly vacation days

[@foxronyo]

Night Corp out here just straight up 'Dark City'ing people.

[@bluegem8582]

The only thing I'll give militech is this: the plan for the arasaka raid was for it to only bring the tower down, and destroy arasaka's bargaining chip of their fortified server, no one planned for the bomb to get stuck and cause the fallout it did Doesn't excuse them really at all for their actions, both during the war and during the time of the game, cause they still have many lives on their hands, but the assault went wrong is the problem

[@Fulgrim2]

Meanwhile in 40k: Random hive worker: The hell is a “sick day”? If I was forced to work for a company in the setting? Maybe TTI or Militech.

[@masterofinfinity479]

if you take a minute to think, this explains not only why nomads are common, but why they're seen as evil

[@Hoigwai]

I would point out that the valuation is likely the one listed on the tax forms. The real valuation is likely 10x that considering all the off-the-books assets and secret research funding. Now with Phantom Liberty, we know that Militech is a nightmare as well, especially since it is the government of the NUSA for all intents and purposes.

[@honkeykong4049]

"I sincerely hope corporations never end up like this" - laughs in Boeing.

[@hueykratos]

The things i would have done for Meredith if she was a romance option, would put Adam Smasher's wrap sheet of war crimes to shame

[@wildercerrate7295]

I thought she was?

[@Sorain1]

@@wildercerrate7295 No. You can meet with her again in Act 2, but there's nothing on the depth of the actual interests in the game.

[@lau_taro0037]

I didnt even know you could talk to the Kang Tao agents, when I saw the car roll up I threw explosives at jt until it was no more 😅

[@ottelf]

Great video, been binging them for a few days now (not straight, of course), but I have some small feedback that I'd like to share. I was a little confused how arasaka was at #5 at the start. At the end of the video it got completely clear that #1 was the best of the worst, which i found kinda confusing, knowing the title.

[@ramen2192]

I think it's interesting, talking about nomads. Because the raffens and the wraiths are specifically said to be people that were kicked out of their clans for incredibly reprehensible behaviour. Cannibalism, murder etc. Etc.

[@Aska88888]

In edge-runners isn’t his mother emergency response the other medical teams did nothing when it was easy to check her info

[@SherrifOfNottingham]

There's a functional issue taking the "corpo" start as a good point to how working for Arasaka would be like, mainly that that feeling of futility is driven not by Arasaka but by the fact that the player starts need to revoke control. You can't talk your way past the checkpoint in the nomad start, they always catch onto you and chase you down not because it's THAT hard to smuggle an iguana into the city, but because the player start needs things to happen in a certain way for us to get to the actual plot. So V not being able to "solve" the arasaka power struggle without getting discarded is not an indicator of how it really would have been, just your everyday protagonist syndrome. The plot needs her to be fired and so they give you the illusion of choice to make you feel like you failed. Had the game spent more time fleshing out the starts, and less time focusing on making the main quest a linear adventure that requires you to be working for fixers on the lowest levels of Night City we could easily get a better lense of what working for Arasaka would really be like. Also keep in mind that Arasaka is just the target of the story, they seem like the worst because we see them actually do things, the rest of the corps we run into are side quests and enemy types to mere reference.

[@johnroberts838]

Brilliant video, thank you 👍👍👍

[@SamBram]

Thank you John!

[@zenmindgamer]

I'd probably be working for Nightcorp. The type of research I'm interested in is similar to the projects they work on and I applaud you staying your outrage over the concept long enough to consider the positives of such research. Currently, those labs interested in investigating the feasibility of behavioral DBS (deep brain stimulation) are actually interested in subduing violent impulses and aggression in patients who are drug-resistant, so it's amusing that the positive you mention is what researchers in the field of neurotechnology and neuroengineering are suggesting be developed.

[@SamBram]

It's a sensitive subject for sure. And one with a tonne of moral implications. I think the main issue is who gets to control the technology and what if it wound up in the hands of somebody with ill intent

[@sinxxu]

One other thing to think about is that the life expectancy for people seems higher in cyberpunk 2077 atleast as a high up corpo or maybe even just having a good trauma team plan could keep you well as long as you dont die by gang violence or something else, just as an example like Hanako and Yorinobu are like 80 and 70 respectively

[@kingoftheneeks3623]

Wtf they're 80 and 70???

[@zoid_on_youtube]

@@kingoftheneeks3623 the rich can live very long in Cyberpunk. Kerry is like 80, and Saburo was 150

[@loopygordo]

​@@kingoftheneeks3623Rouge was there with Jonny and Co lol. These people old af

[@ixiahj]

Night Corp is aiming for a "programmable society." That's so easy to abuse.

[@PhantomGun4]

in one of the game updates that gave the world more alive and vary in NPC on the streets. i ran into some random Trauma Team guys talking about one of them being forced to get a brain monitory chip or get fired. i wish i remembered were they spawned... it was just one of those NPC areas you could only get too by walking around randomly...

[@wolfwilkopter2231]

Fun fact: Gilcrist is indeed a Maelstrom contact and gave the details of the Convoi and pre "lost" papers, like the ones we use in the Nomad Origin, to Patricia of Maelstrom (aka the hostile girl you can meat at Totentanz if no one else survived the encounter with V and Brick didnt get freed or just got blown up by V with the detonator found next door to Bricks cell). That can be found in one of the early serverrooms at All Foods, if you can get in that is, in the files on the terminal there. And if Stout was to live, you can find Gilcrist or whats left of him later on, close to where we met up the first time.

[@pipertheos2660]

Not to mention the path Arasaka set David Martinez on.

[@LuLu6214]

I think I remember a little blip on the N54 news station when I was writing an elevator, they were talking about Militech benefits. It included 5 days vacation per year and 34% of employees qualifying for retirement. That's more vacation than I got to take for several years.😂

[@jaanikaapa6925]

On my latest playthrough I found a shard where there was discussion on using the suggestion / brainwashing stuff to get violence down. It is actually based on real marketing methods.

[@chloec4009]

I think working for NCPD but specifically MaxTac wouldn't be so bad assuming you had the skills (as V does) to get the job done. They pretty much roll up and clean up shop with seemingly less of the corruption and backstabbing of regular NCPD. Also in the sequel It would be cool to put the focus on Militech and the NUSA as the villain. Obviously all the corps are bad I wouldn't change that and make Arasaka good, but it would be nice to "Mix it up!"

[@MargaveRoswaal]

This is some top tier content

[@derrickrose4233]

Becoming a merch or joining a gang would be better for yourself great vid man thx!❤

[@filippodsiado8240]

My question is what sourcebooks rpgs have used to describe those companies. I see most of your sources from game. It is good detailed explanations, especialy it show on the arasaka level. It is really detailed.

[@christianames2161]

I truly am watching this on August 20th, 2023 😔

[@thomasjames6581]

I would love to see what Dogtown gangs and groups are going to be like if you were to work for them

[@YoungFidodido]

Can you please make a Lucy build video? I'd love to roleplay as a character with her kind of skills ps. Love your stuff, you're genuinely my favorite cyberpunk youtuber

[@SamBram]

Thanks! Been meaning to make one of those literally since October. I'll probs wait for Phantom Liberty to change up all the stats now though, since it'll stay useful for longer

[@Shamino1]

18:40 Are we forgetting that SovOil exists? This occured after your video, of course, but SovOil is in direct talks with Tyger Claws, which is the door you need to pass before doing business with Arasaka's NC division- likely to try and obtain a marketshare foothold in NC. (SovOil senior representative speaking with Maiko + Tyger Claws during PL DLC)

[@pingpong517]

I just did the kang tao sidegig by coincidence and i just blew them up with the wristlauncher before they had a chance to say anything 😂😂😂 so thank you for doing the… well, not-blowing-them-up-on-first-sight so I can see what would happen

[@basildaoust2821]

I can see how it would be possible for corporations to become more powerful than governments. I can also see how as the corp gets bigger and bigger that it would need to learn to control its employees if they have no one else to do it. I mean we know for a fact that companies even in the US do things that are bad for humanity but make the company so much money even when they know that what they do will kill people they do it anyway. So it seems logical as the company has to do more and more and wishes to save money while doing it that things will get worse. Now how bad it gets who knows.

[@decayingruin]

Mr. Blue Eyes reminds me of the Illusive Man from Mass Effect.

[@ozthewizard1394]

So all of them?

[@Eranderil]

For as powerful as V ends up, it would be great to hand your body over to Silverhand, and watch as he utterly guts each corp on a global scale. With that chip in his head constantly repairing any cyberpsycho damage, he would rapidly become a better version of Adam Smasher, and an absolute nightmare to corps. For reference, I have a 2 second cooldown on my sandy. I also have optical camo. Put that in an Adam Smasher exoskeleton. Don't need a cyberdeck when thrown knifes solve most issues just as fast as a quickhack. Mix in a souped up set of mantis blades (or two, like the cyberpsycho from the intro of edgerunners), and Doom Doom with ricochet build and the story becomes very short- everything dies. And I don't even believe I have the strongest build in the game. Additionally, if you're goin full 'borg there's no reason to NOT have a cyberdeck built in too, which opens its own can of worms.

[@ThirdXavier]

The idea of cyberpsycho damage seems to be present in the anime and not really in the game. In fact the game has information that implies that cyberpsychosis is just regular psychosis from how brutal the world is and the government uses implants as a cover up.

[@Eranderil]

@@ThirdXavier That may be, but from what I understand the TTRPG the video game is based on tracks your "humanity" stat, which degrades based on how much cyberware you load into your character, and heavier loads result in greater likelihood of cyberpsychosis. Also, having a bunch of different metals in your body that your blood is being pumped through before eventually reaching the brain is GOING to do damage. So I stand by the original comment. That said, the 2.0 Cyberpunk update does have some impact from overloading cyberware if you take the right perk, but it's portrayed as kind of a good thing.

[@johnmillan2167]

I never knew you could just talk to El Gallo…… now I do!

[@christhiantrevisan8084]

I hope that the sequel expands more on this side of the world, the game only focus a bit more on arasaka, all the other ones are barely touched

[@jonahgrimm]

Re: arisaka value : the 800B euro is against the *publically traded* thirty percent. At least in canon.

[@abdelali9279]

Ifind interesting that one of the things to consider, is the likelyhood of being killed in the office while doing your mundane desk job

[@vaIerie]

Word of note for valuation: One eddie is equal to roughly $2, so double that Arasaka valuation

[@bigdad5713]

Could you make a video like this for the gangs of night city? That’d be pretty interesting

[@SamBram]

Planning on it! Though I'm debating now to wait and include Barghest

[@bigdad5713]

@@SamBram that’d probably be for the best

[@goldenthrone9268]

Everyone talking about Johnny’s assault on the tower. Morgan Black hand “am I joke to you?”

[@chrisahearn789]

Considering the potential villians for Orion, i feel like Sams words are gonna age like milk in the tempe sun.

[@UwU5437]

Was interested in Militech before PL, just to f-up Arasaka as much as possible, after PL , working for Mayers , im LF 2 fissile mats for 2 diff towers

[@Pope_Dorito_II]

In regards to your bit on Nightcorps potential good, then you more than likely end up with a situation similar to the anime Psycho-Pass if i had to guess

[@fumetsu-950]

i wonder if we will hear the name abernathy again in phantom liberty since we will interact with the president of nusa

[@NorseGraphic]

She ‘commits suicide’ (read: she was eliminated)

[@TheFixer_1]

Just an FYI Samuel Teasle & John Obmar the names of the opposing characters in First Blood William Teasle & John Rambo... with Samuel Being colonel Trautman's 1st name.

[@mattjk5299]

It's so weird to see someone playing this game not as a cyber sandy swordsman/kerenzikov run and gunner, but I've never really watched someone else's gameplay of this game before.

[@prettyshortshorts]

Eurodollar is likely worth much more than current dollar - 33 times if i were to guess, it is also a cbdc.

[@sleepyghost4994]

Bro sounds like a nightcorp employee trying to sell me that they're not the bad😅😂

[@Saxiiiify]

I'll take Johnny's advise on the Megacorps ^^

[@mbishop2050]

I would say Trauma Team is a rotten place to work. You can listen to two Trauma Team members in the underpass of the hospital NE of the Goldsmith Street fast travel and South of the Megabuilding where you go for the Gig: Catch a Tyger's Toe. One Trauma NPC is speaking to the other about needing an implant if they wanted to keep their job. The reason the first one did not want the implant was it would allow Trauma Team to basically read the mid of the employee at any time. In regards to the new mission involving Karl and Kang Tao, after seeing that portion of the video, I am glad I part a vehicle across the entrance and just use the light machine gun before they can even get out of the vehicles. One of these days I am going to see an NPC falling from a roof. I hear it in City Center from time to time, but I never have seen it. Too bad they did not have anything on Orbital Air, just started thinking what that corp could be like.

[@azelyu]

As I've watched the music video for Let You Down by Dawid Podsiadło I don't think I could ever consider working for Biotechnica

[@brucesmith765]

Technically, Militech gave Morgan Blackhand the nuke. Not Johnny. Johnny is a terrible narrator. It was Morgans job, Johnny gets cut in half by Smashers shotgun

[@rdc4461]

Can’t blame Johnny for all of it although his narcissism def had something to do with it

[@Justin-fm2rj]

now i want a game where i can join one of the megacrop and destroy the others while rising in rank.

[@shelbyschroder4140]

Nightcorp should have a talk with the folks who worked on Miranda in Serenity

[@grabsackturmencough]

Sad thing is that 6 paid vacation days is 6 days more than I have ever had.

[@Ragnaroknrol]

I wonder what happened to Microtech. Guessing Bartmoss brought them down when he released his final farewell. Be nice if they would tell us.

[@NorseGraphic]

SoftSys seems to have decent jobs. Revive old tech.

[@rickybrooks2971]

The NightCorp “what if” scenario is literally just “what if instead of 1984, Brave New World?”

[@Daniel_Schmaniel]

There's something interesting thing about the estimated value of Google and Apple you show. That evaluation is based on their projected future growth. The tech giants of our time have been growing insanely fast and are trying to keep their momentum, because some have estimated that if they start showing a decline in growth and increased profits then they could loose at minimum 2 trillion USD off their estimated value.

[@SamBram]

Very true. Projected growth attracts speculative investors to boost the value of the company. They have been some of the best and most secure feeling tech investments for a long time now. As somebody with a small amount invested in Alphabet stock and more importantly working through KZbin, it's definitely in my best interests that the company continues to do well but I guess we'll see...

[@darkumineru1681]

biotech sounds like if i had to pick one thats the pick has if u had to pick its and if u like the picture they paint for the future and can dilute your view of the others and still be carful u can maybe even change some of your own friends and family from there fate if they get into the door for your experiment with maybe nightcorp being a secondary and if i was able to pick where to earn money i think honestly being in a gang and get into working has a solo or merc might be the best bet or maybe to try and make it has a nightrunner or bodyguard or even go full on prostitution or entertainment in general and hope u dont end up in the bad parts of BD's or fandoms

[@tygret]

I always found the idea of the corps having 80 hours work weeks to be very childish. Even in a dystopic environment like Cyberpunk there wouldn't be 80 hour work weeks. We don't have 40 hour work weeks because corportations and government here are friendly. You as a human, literally just become less productive after a while. There's tons of research on this and it isn't beneficial to have your employees make too many hours. This isn't somehow different in a Cyberpunk universe, perhaps the hours would go up because of hormone treatment and such, but 80 hour work weeks are ridiculous even if a corporation is all powerful. It simply wouldn't work.

[@ghostninja1874]

While on deployment your average soldier will work well over 84 hours a week for 9 months or longer with and extention and that is happening now in reality. So ethier the study is bull or no one cares ether way it is already happening.

[@cynicalmemester1694]

In the world of Cyberpunk, employees are issued Cyberware that allows them to work for extremely long hours without exhaustion, not to mention using hormone blockers and booster drugs.

[@tygret]

@@ghostninja1874 Soldiers aren't performing 84 hours of effective work time when they're active. If you're gonna be doing office work, like most of the corp employees, then you can't make 80 hours work weeks. Not because of physical exhaustian, but because of mental exhaustian, it doesn't work.

[@ghostninja1874]

@@tygret 42A are office workers so yes they count the millitary has a variety of jobs some mental, some physical, and most of them are both.

[@Yusuke_Denton]

I wouldn't say childish but it's the typically exaggerated anti-industry dystopian tropes seen in all "punk". At least CP does portray the _government_ as comically evil as the corporations. But even in real life there are peaks of sanity and valleys of ridiculousness in what humans are willing to tolerate.