Cyberpunk 2077 players think they’ve found tribute to deceased fan in Phantom Liberty

Ethan Dean
Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty Fan Tribute

Cyberpunk 2077 devs might have added another heartwarming chapter in the tale of a beloved fan. Players of Phantom Liberty believe they’ve found a tribute to a 3D printing enthusiast who went by Renfei.

Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty is the culmination of CD Projekt RED’s efforts to redeem the futuristic RPG after a disastrous launch. The combination of the DLC and the 2.0 update looks to have done the trick with fans praising what feels like a brand new game.

Despite some minor controversies thanks to some sneaky anti-Russian sentiment added into the Ukranian localization of the game, that positive sentiment appears to be the norm. Even Asmongold has his own take on why Cyberpunk 2077 eclipses Starfield.

Gameplay and progression features aren’t the only new inclusions in Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty though. Players on r/cyberpunkgame think they’ve found a touching tribute to a deceased Chinese player who didn’t make it to the launch of the DLC.

The post details the story of a Cyberpunk 2077 fan known as Renfei who ran his own online shop that primarily sold 3D printed parts for Gundam models (Gunpla). Renfei passed away due to a genetic disorder on May 21 2022 and was a popular figure in Cyberpunk 2077 fan communities.

Players believe a Phantom Liberty NPC named 千寺狐 (Qian Si Hu in English) is a tribute to Renfei as the character appears to be of Chinese ethnicity and is seen tinkering away with robots. This has been taken as a reference to his hobbies and business which also sold 3D prints of Cyberpunk 2077 items.

This saga has been a focus of the Cyberpunk 2077 community for a while with a previous post from u/HannibalFu detailing how Renfei’s 55-year-old mother continued his work. Numerous social media posts from Renfei’s mother detail how she learned 3D printing as a way of being closer to her son after his passing.

“The more of my son’s world I learn, the more things in common we’ll have in the future reunion,” she explained in a translated post on Chinese social media site Zhihu. Interestingly, one of Renfei’s more popular Cyberpunk 2077 designs was a model of the Relic Chip which contains a digital imprint of a deceased person’s soul.

Cyberpunk 2077 Relic Chip
Fans have drawn parallels with Ranfei’s method of remaining close to her son and the Relic Chip.

The original post that told the story of Renfei’s mother has been included in an Imigur gallery along with other posts that are being attributed to her. The posts suggest that the NPC Qian Si Hu is indeed a tribute to Renfei and his mother is aware of it.

Nobody has been able to verify that these posts were indeed made by Renfei’s mother as of yet. The folks over at GamesRadar+ have reached out CD Projekt RED who said it has “no comment at this time”.

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About The Author

Ethan Dean is a Staff Writer on the Australian Dexerto team. He graduated from RMIT with a Bachelors Degree in Journalism and has been freelance writing in the gaming space ever since. His favorite game is the third-person, open world flavor of the month and when he doesn't have a controller in his hands, there's a paintbrush in them. He's a self-described Warhammer nerd and a casual DnD player too. You can contact Ethan at ethan.dean@dexerto.com