Hideo Kojima is the king of cameos. The Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator has a long habit of inserting himself — or at least his likeness — into games and projects beyond his own. Now he’s done it again, reprising his Cyberpunk 2077 role for the second season of Netflix’s Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, which drops all 10 episodes on October 20.
CD Projekt Red confirmed the cameo through the official Edgerunners social channels, teasing that viewers might recognise the character from Konpeki Plaza during The Heist mission in the original game. Kojima returns as Hideyoshi Oshima, the braindance director he voiced and was modelled on in Cyberpunk 2077.
Who Is Hideyoshi Oshima?
If you played Cyberpunk 2077 and explored Arasaka’s Konpeki Plaza thoroughly during The Heist, you may have stumbled across a Japanese man sitting near a bar. That was Oshima — a braindance producer from Tokyo who wanted to create BD experiences that carried genuine emotional weight, rather than the salacious content that made the technology popular in Night City.
He’d chat with V about wanting his productions to convey “real, raw human emotion” and ask whether the player had any pitches to show him. It was an easy encounter to miss, tucked away from the main quest path, but it became one of the game’s most talked-about Easter eggs precisely because of who was sitting at that table.
Not just a throwaway: CD Projekt Red described the role as more than a brief cameo, with Oshima appearing as “the famous braindance director who was at Konpeki Plaza in Cyberpunk 2077.”
Kojima Was Happy to Come Back
The game director responded to the announcement quickly, sharing photos from his recording session on X. “I make a cameo appearance in the anime series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 as Hideyoshi Oshima, the character who appeared in the previous game,” he wrote.
He also added a characteristically self-aware note: “I don’t like playing myself. That happens a lot. I’d rather play a detective or something.”
“I make a cameo appearance in the anime series ‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2’ as Hideyoshi Oshima, the character who appeared in the previous game.” — Hideo Kojima
CD Projekt Red co-CEO Michal Nowakowski responded to the news with a simple message: “Always a pleasure to work with Hideo Kojima.” The collaboration speaks to the ongoing relationship between the game studio and one of the industry’s most distinctive creative voices.
What Edgerunners Season 2 Brings
The second season of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners features a new cast of characters navigating Night City’s criminal underworld, continuing the anime’s tradition of expanding the game’s lore beyond what players see in Cyberpunk 2077. All 10 episodes premiere simultaneously on Netflix on October 20, 2026.
The first season, which aired in 2022, was widely praised for its visual style and emotional storytelling, drawing viewers who had never played the game while satisfying longtime fans. Whether season 2 can match that impact remains to be seen, but the Kojima cameo is already generating attention from both the anime and gaming communities.
A Crossover That Makes Sense
Kojima’s appearance in Cyberpunk 2077 was always a natural fit. Both he and CD Projekt Red share a reputation for ambitious, detail-rich worlds that reward exploration. His character’s interest in braindance technology — the in-universe mechanic for exploring recorded memories — aligned with the themes Kojima has explored throughout his own career in games like Death Stranding and the Metal Gear Solid series.
The Edgerunners anime has similarly earned respect for treating its source material with care, expanding Night City rather than simply retreading familiar ground. Bringing Kojima back as Oshima continues that tradition — a small but meaningful nod that rewards attentive fans of both the game and the show.
Whether Oshima’s appearance in season 2 is a brief visual callback or a more substantial role will become clear when the episodes drop. Either way, it’s a reminder that Night City’s world extends well beyond what any single game or show can contain — and that sometimes, the most memorable residents are the ones you almost missed.
