Cyberpunk 2077 Johnny Silverhand concept art reveals the character originally looked a lot different

Cyberpunk 2077 Johnny Silverhand concept art has emerged, revealing the character portrayed by Keanu Reeves originally looked a lot different.

Several pieces of Cyberpunk 2077 concept art have recently surfaced on artist Lea Leonowicz's Artstation profile, painting a different picture of Johnny Silverhand. You can see one example of such a piece just below, which has Silverhand looking a little bit older than the version of the character we end up meeting in CD Projekt Red's new game.

Unfortunately, Leonowicz hasn't provided any additional information along with the concept art for Johnny Silverhand, so it's impossible to guess when these pieces were put together. We can't verify whether this is what Silverhand originally looked like before Keanu Reeves took over the role, for example.

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Still, it's nice to see a slightly different Silverhand to the one we adventured around Night City with so recently in Cyberpunk 2077. Perhaps CD Projekt Red was originally envisioning Silverhand's personality and mannerisms to be different prior to Reeves taking on the role, but unless someone from the development team paints a very clear timeline of the character, we'll likely never know for sure.

Cyberpunk 2077 hasn't exactly had the smoothest of launch periods, with CD Projekt Red apologizing to customers for the game's performance on PS4 and Xbox One and refunding purchases on both platforms. Earlier this week, Valve's Gabe Newell said that he has "a lot of sympathy" for CD Projekt Red over the game's launch, and that he's sure the company will manage to turn things around.

If you're still looking to pick up Cyberpunk 2077, you might want to head over to CD Projekt's own PC storefront, where the Cyberpunk 2077 GOG version is already 50% off. That's some killer savings on a very recent release.

If you're still trying to get your money back for your Cyberpunk 2077 purchase on PS4 or Xbox One, you can read up on our Cyberpunk 2077 refund guide for more.

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.