Cyberpunk 2077 2.1 Romance Guide
Night City might be a nightmare, but it's not all netrunning and gunslinging. This is a choice-based RPG, and so unsurprisingly that means there's a selection of Cyberpunk 2077 romance options to choose from as you make your way through V's story - though your choices will slightly differ between Male V and Female V. This article covers all romance options, plus how to start and progress each relationship. It's up-to-date for version 2.1 and Phantom Liberty, and includes tips on how to hang out with your love interest(s) in V's apartment.
- Romance Choices for Male & Female V
- How to hang out with your love interest
- How Romances change your Ending
Cyberpunk 2077: Romance Options for Male & Female V
Both Male and Female V have a small suite of Cyberpunk 2077 Romance options - though exactly which romanceable characters are available to you is determined by your body type and voice.
Cyberpunk 2077 takes an open-ended approach to character creation, meaning this isn't as clear-cut as in some more restrictive games - but we'll make the requirements clear below.
Main Romance Options
Here's the four main romance options, and what features of V you'll need to romance them:
- Judy Alvarez romance (Feminine Body & Voice required)
- River Ward romance (Feminine Body Type required)
- Panam Palmer romance (Masculine Body Type required)
- Kerry Eurodyne romance (Masculine Body & Voice required)
If you're on PC, mods can open up romances for all permutations of V. On console, you're locked to the above.
These four characters are the serious, significant relationships, and you pursue them by helping and hanging out with these characters, who you'll meet through pursuit of the main story and certain side quests.
Committing to one of these Cyberpunk 2077 romance options changes certain endings of the game - though the detail of how depends on the romance. For more information on that, check out our Cyberpunk 2077 endings guide.
It is possible to have a romance with more than one character at once - though during some of the endings, you'll be forced to choose which character V wants to focus on as the 'canon', true love interest for your play-through. Beyond that there's no consequences, however - no jealousy or love triangles or what have you.
In later versions of the game, there are more scenes with each of the main romances than at launch - from hanging out with them at their apartment, to new phone calls and scenes directly related to the new content added leading up to Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 and Phantom Liberty.
One-Night Stands & Other Romance Options
Aside from the story-altering relationships, the player can partake in a number of other optional Cyberpunk 2077 Romance Options - flings. None have any major impact on your game or V's story, beyond adding more color and events for your personal lore.
These encounters don't count as 'cheating' on your main love interest, either. Notably, all of these short romances are open to any body type or voice - any V is valid.
- V's Conquests:
- Johnny's Lovers:
Judy romance guide
You'll meet Judy relatively early on in the game - she's introduced as part of the prologue in the run up to the big heist with Jackie, acting as your Braindance operator for your intel gathering BD session and BD tutorial. Judy is only romanceable only by a V with both a feminine body type and a feminine voice tone.
Once out of the first part of the game, you'll have the option to call Judy as part of the main story - this is optional, but you should do it.
Soon enough, Judy will be given her own specific string of side jobs, all of which ultimately end up being about helping to attempt to liberate Clouds, the establishment you visit on Jig Jig Street earlier in the game. As a side job, this is not just one quest, but a string of different quests that Judy gives you over time.
In a mission called Pisces, Maiko will present a plan. You should refuse to go along with Maiko's plan in order to keep the Judy romance on track. After that, Complete all of Judy's quests and they'll culminate in a unique quest called Pyramid Song.
When on the Pyramid Song quest, you'll have an opportunity to initiative a physical encounter with Judy - which you obviously want to do. The morning after, she will ask you what it meant. If you want to be in a relationship, tell her it was the beginning of something special.
If you do this, Judy will give you access to her apartment. You can sleep there, hang out with her there, and stash your weapons there (note, this is a separate, unique stash to the trunk of your car or your home apartment). Being in a comitted relationship with Judy can also impact your ending - depending on which of Cyberpunk's many endings you get.
River romance guide
River is the next romance option up, albeit only for a V with a feminine body type. Unlike many of the other romances, River doesn't appear in the main story path of Cyberpunk 2077 at all: instead, you have to find him through a side quest. At one point you'll get a call that'll offer up the quest I Fought the Law - take it.
River doesn't appear in this quest at first - instead you're helping a candidate for Night City mayor and his wife. But during the ensuing investigation, you'll meet NCPD detective River Ward - and he'll actually eventually get back in touch with you for help with another case. This is the side job The Hunt - prioritize it if you want to romance River.
In 'The Hunt', you'll need to save the life of Randy and ensure that River does not die. To do this, you need to make sure that you choose the right farm when trying to figure out the location, and then head straight there. To ensure you do this, make sure you see every single piece of evidence in the three-part Braindance River shows you. In particular, make sure you catch two specific clues in the third part - the solar panel at around 25-30 second mark, and the farm number at around a minute in, found on the wall by the gates. If you fail to do this, note that the correct Farm is called "Edgewood". When there, don't leave - if you do, you'll leave River alone and he'll die. You can't romance him then!
The Hunt is actually one of the more notable side quests in the game, with a harrowing reveal at the center of it. Once the quest is complete, make sure you indicate your romantic interest to River in dialogue and then wait out for River to call you. Eventually he does, and this side job, called Following the River, leads to his romance. It's a cute low-key mission that involves a slice of a calmer life for V.
As with most characters, he'll proposition you for the night. If you spend the night with him, you'll be given the chance to make things into an official romance or not. Having River as your true love interest can have an impact on ending scenes, but it again depends on which you get.
Panam romance guide
As with Judy, Panam is met through the main story in Cyberpunk 2077. She's a nomad, and you'll be introduced with her by Rogue when you're trying to track down Hellman. Panam can only be romanced by a V with a masculine body type.
You'll have a few opportunities to make a pass at Panam as both male and female V, but in both instances she'll brush you off. Don't panic about this. Everything is going as intended.
The key is to keep it up with her side quests, however. Panam will call you for help and kick off her own side job strand, beginning with the mission Riders on the Storm. This is a particularly cool set of side jobs with major implications for the end of the game if you complete it - so we suggest you do anyway. There's a few steps throughout Panam's story to secure a romance:
- In Riders on the Storm, flirt with Panam at every opportunity.
- At the start of the With a Little Help from My Friends quest, don't tell Saul about Panam's plan. Then, when Panam asks why you're helping her, don't mention money.
Once you reach the mission Queen of the Highway, you'll have a chance to have something of a romantic moment with Panam. Given the option, be sure to say "Oh yeah, let's go" for a special scene. At the end of the quest you can kiss her again to seal the deal. Following the ending path that involves Panam more directly will involve her more closely in V's life.
Kerry romance guide
Kerry Eurodyne is a member of Johnny Silverhand's gang, and you'll meet him as part of the quests Johnny gives to you, where he's trying to tie up loose ends of his life through V. If you go along with Johnny's requests, you'll meet Kerry via breaking into his house and then have an opportunity to get to know him through further quests.
Keep progressing the quest lines involving Kerry. In a quest titled Off the Leash, you'll be able to flirt with him, then you can seal the romance deal during the Boat Drinks side job. feminine V also has a chance to attempt to initiate a kiss, but Kerry won't be interested. Only a V with both a masculine body type and voice can romance Kerry. In that instance, you can initiate a kiss on the boat.
After you get off - and off the boat - you can make the relationship more formal or choose to make it a one-time thing. As with other characters, entering into a more committed relationship with him will change minor things about the final stages of the game.
Other Relationships
As well as the longer and more significant love interests in Cyberpunk 2077, the game also features a handful of shorter love interests you can initiate or even pay for scenes with. These are separate to the true romances, and do not affect those relationships if you undertake them while in a relationship.
Joytoys - universal one-offs
If you're just in this for some action, Cyberpunk 2077 has you covered, because of course these things are just a commodity in Night City.
To make this happen, you just need to look out for the Joy Toy icon on the map - it's a pair of lips, of course. You can find these out in the open world here and there, but the most obvious place to go for this 'romance' subplot - if you can call it romance - is to Jig Jig Street in Japantown. It's the Westbrook region; just approach them, marked by the lip icon, and pay.
You'll actually visit Jig Jig Street as part of the main story, too, and even have a brief moment with a 'Doll' joytoy, but these scenes are different to that. Obviously this is a one-off thing, and there's options for both masculine and feminine versions of V.
Meredith Stout
Everybody meets Meredith Stout, but under certain circumstances - if you side with her in the prologue missions - your V will actually be able to get with her for a brief love scene. This is a one-night stand - no repeats, no commitments. This is pretty simple: in the earliest missions in the game, you'll have choices to make when retrieving the bot.
All of this takes place during the quest line of 'The Pickup', where V and Jackie are working to get the Flathead Bot for the heist.
First of all, you'll have to actually choose to meet Stout, which is optional. Second, when you have the chance, you should use her corrupted shard to pay for the Flathead bot, frying the gang.
Later, she'll send you a text message. Respond positively, and you'll be invited to a hangout at the No-Tell Motel - but it's a one-time thing, strictly business only. One advantage of this encounter is you have an opportunity to pick up a unique, iconic blunt melee weapon from the room where you have your romantic encounter with Meredith Stout.
Alt Cunningham - as Johnny
This one is pretty simple. As part of the main story of the game, you'll experience some of Johnny's love life in a flashback during the 'Never Fade Away' quest. During this story moment, Johnny has a romantic scene with Alt Cunningham. Alt is an important character - more important than this scene suggests.
V will automatically experience this particular romance - it comes as part of an unmissable story cutscene that flashes back to Johnny's life years prior.
Ruby - as 'Johnny'
As Cyberpunk 2077 progresses, Johnny will have a few periods of time where he gains control of V's Body and acts independently while V's consciousness is indisposed - first off in the quest 'Chippin' In'. This is a story element, and will happen to everyone.
As part of this, Johnny will meet Ruby and spend time with her while in charge of V's physical form.
Rogue - as Johnny
This is another Johnny romance of sorts, though this happens in the present day. Over time, you'll get requests from Johnny to let him take control of your body or to help him resolve certain left-over threads from his mortal life in Night City.
This plot line starts in earnest with the 'Chippin' In' quest, and continues from there in a range of other quests including 'Blistering Love' and 'For Whom the Bell Tolls'. These are optional, therefore making this romance missable.
Choose to help Johnny with his issues by completing these and other Johnny-focused quests and you'll eventually open up the Tapeworm mission where you can go on a date with Rogue. This mission actually leads to some other crucial side jobs we recommend you do.
How to hang out with your Love Interest - I Really Want to Stay At Your House quest guide
With the Cyberpunk 2077 2.1 update, V can now choose to "hang out" with their love interest in almost any apartment V owns. This takes the form of the repeatable mini-quest "I Really Want to Stay At Your House."
Once you've completed the romantic quest line for a character, you'll start to receive text messages from them. Note that the hangout date function only works with long-term romantic interests for V, so it only applies to the following NPCs:
- River Ward
- Kerry Eurodyne
- Panam Palmer
- Judy Alvarez
(Sorry to fans of Rogue, Meredith Stout, or the Jig-Jig Street Joytoys.)
How to start the Hangout Date
Like many modern dating interactions, hangout dates typically begin with a text message.
Your significant other will typically ask to see you, or you can initiate in the form of a recurring message that you can send out to them. The message will typically surface a response that lets your love interest know which apartment you want to meet them at. You can then meet them at the apartment, where they'll be waiting, or if you're already at the apartment you indicated, you'll be given a prompt to wait, where they'll show up at your front door.
These are the apartments you can send a love interest to as of Cyberpunk 2077 2.1:
- Megabuilding H10 (V's default apartment)
- Northside motel
- Japantown apartment
- Glen apartment
- Corpo Plaza apartment
Other, crash-pads like the Aldecaldos camp, Judy's apartment, Kerry's mansion, River's trailer park, or the Dogtown safehouse aren't eligible for hangouts.
What you can do on a Hangout Date
Your slate of interactions with their love interest on a hangout date are relatively limited in narrative terms. You can converse with your love interest, but their options are limited to the ones available when visiting them at their home. You can also sit with them on a couch and cuddle, shower together in the bathroom, and dance to the quest's titular song, Rosa Walton's "I Really Want to Stay at Your House". Finally, you can sleep, and you'll wake up in bed next to them.
If you're hanging out in V's megabuilding apartment, your love interest will interact with you while staring in the mirror. For example, Kerry gives V a shoulder rub.
You can end a hangout date by leaving the area.
How Romance changes your Cyberpunk 2077 Ending
As mentioned earlier in this article if you engance in one of the main four Cyberpunk 2077 Romance Options, commit and carry it through to the end, this romance option will feature heavily in the ending of the game, with that love interest playing a key role in either the epilogue, the final stages of the game, or both.
We don't want to get into ending spoilers in-depth here - that's for our Cyberpunk 2077 Endings guide - but, in the interests of posterity, here's how each of the main four love interests and romance options impacts the very end of Cyberpunk 2077:
- In The Star ending, Panam and Judy will agree to leave Night City with V and continue their relationship outside the city for as long as V has. River and Kerry will refuse to leave Night City behind, leading to a bittersweet break up of the love affair as V continues to leave the city.
- In The Sun ending, River and Kerry will wait for V to return from your big mission, and the assumption is that on V's return to Night City, the relationship will continue. Panam and Judy are intent on leaving the city, however, and will break up with V in order to do so.
- The Devil ending is similar - River and Kerry will wait for V to return, but when you explain your situation to Panam and Judy, they will say goodbye over the phone and leave Night City - and V - for good.
- The Temperence ending sees Johnny in control, and he will take V's body and leave Night City for good. He doesn't say goodbye to any of the love interests, which leaves them uncertain as to what happened to V and angry, feeling like they've been ghosted.
- If V takes the Path of Least Resistance on the rooftop and end it all alongside Johnny, all love interests - and all of V's friends - will be upset and question why V took that course of action.
- In the new Phantom Liberty DLC unlockable ending The Tower, V's relationship will eventually break down due to the circumstances of the ending.
If you want more Cyberpunk 2077 help, check out our guides on how to get Johnny's clothes and the Samurai jacket, a list of all cars and bikes and all main story missions, or our list of all unique iconic weapons in the game.