It’s not really a dystopian future unless you’re having to chat to an estate agent named Bob

Image credit: CD Projekt

Everybody stay calm. You’re about to read about landlords and the prospect of paying rent. Don’t worry, there probably aren’t any landlords in the room right now. There are, however, new landlords in Cyberpunk 2077, should you choose to install this mod that introduces a whole bunch of expanded mechanics and details when it comes to cyberflats.

It’s called Eviction Notice, and it’s a substantial overhaul of how housing works in the futuristic RPG. Gone are the days of just living for free in Megabuilding H10, or walking up to one of the newer pads added in by the 1.5 update and paying a one-time fee for permanent access. Clearly these options are too idealistic, and your merc with a toaster transplanted into their face needs to battle their most terrifing foe yet: fiscal responsibility.

Enter this “story-driven rent system” that modder DarkFortuneTeller has put together. Once it’s installed, the five main apartments you can live in across Night City require regular rent payments if you want to avoid being evicted. All of this is communicated and maintained by “an eclectic cast of real estate agents, chat bots, and landlords” that the mod establishes as characters via a series of over 450 new text messages they’ll send you at various points.

When you lay down that initial payment on a flat, which the mod treats as a security deposit, you’ll get a message from your soulless chatbot or soulless human landlord introducing themselves. I assume it feels like the opening to a Souls boss fight, except this time with a selfie that wouldn’t feel out of place on your aunt or uncle’s Facebook profile. “They each have a unique personality (and a few surprises) that I hope you enjoy discovering,” DarkFortuneTeller writes of these leech-like Lichdragon Fortissaxes.

One of them even has a loyalty quest you can complete to earn a discount on your rent and the option to buy the Glen apartment outright. The modder plans to add more of these quests via future updates, as well as extra “special requests” that look to work like hotel room service for the swankier digs. You’ll be glad to learn they’ve already implemented the ability for toffs who buy the Corpo Plaza flat to order flowers delivered to their pad, I assume in case their mum visits.

Image credit: DarkFortuneTeller on Nexus Mods “The goal was to add an additional layer of storytelling and difficulty, without dominating the entire gameplay experience,” DarkFortuneTeller wrote of their work, “In the early game, you should feel the added pressure of making sure you have enough to cover the rent at the end of the week. You may even decide to downsize by moving out of Megabuilding H10 to save a few eddies. You’ll also need to make choices about how many apartments you should rent at once.”

In line with that, the game’s first act doesn’t require you to pay any rent. Then, once V’s found their feet and gained a certain brain passenger, they’re introduced via text to an estate agent called Bob. Bob can help you do things like move in and out of different flats, with those you’ve moved out of no longer requiring rent payments. How often rent must be paid, and several other aspects of the mod’s systems, can be tweaked via an in-game menu that uses Mod Settings.

Impressively detailed realism-themed mods like this one are usually a bit hit-or-miss for me, but I reckon this might well be one I give a go, having fairly easily afforded nearly all of the game’s flats only a bit of the way into Act 2 of the post-2.3 update Cyberpunk playthrough I started a couple of weeks ago. After all, there’s nothing like having to pay tribute to wrathful deities who can chuck you onto the streets at a whim to really make those side-gigs feel more meaningful. If you fancy giving it a go, you’ll also need Cyberpunk load order staples ArchiveXL, Codeware, RED4ext, redscript, and TweakXL.