The real Cyberpunk 2077 news is The Witcher spinoff where you play as Geralt's horse

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Roach Race is a free arcade game available on mobile and inside Cyberpunk 2077

Roach Race
(Image credit: CDPR)

Tucked away in the deluge of Cyberpunk 2077 news today was the arrival of a brand new arcade game based on The Witcher where you play as Geralt's horse.

Roach Race was quietly revealed in the patch notes for Cyberpunk 2077's new Edgerunners update. It's a new mini-game you can play for free in Cyberpunk 2077's arcades in Northside, Japantown, and The Glen apartments, or by downloading it from your real-life mobile device's app store. Again, it's completely free to download and play on mobile whether or not you own Cyberpunk 2077, and there are no microtransactions.

This is an arcade-style minigame and not a fully fledged spinoff, but if you don't expect anything too involved from Roach Race you'll probably have a decent time for a short while. It's basically a Witcher-themed take on the endless runner genre where you tap the screen to jump, avoid incoming obstacles, and collect power-ups and XP boosts. 

In this case, you're Geralt's wildly disloyal steed Roach and your obstacles are fences, pitfalls, crows, and griffins. If you smash into anything, it's game over, but at least you get a cute little animation of Geralt rushing to your aid. I only played for a few minutes and managed to make it through two levels: an open field and a castle exterior. There isn't much detail in the environments, but there is a day/night cycle which is a nice touch.

Roach Race is available now on iOS, Android, and inside Cyberpunk 2077's in-game arcades.

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Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.