This article is about the location in Cyberpunk RED. For the district in Cyberpunk 2077, see Watson (2077).The Watson Development, also known as the Watson Urban Reconstruction Zone,[1] was a planned district located in northern Night City during the Time of the Red.
History[]
2020s - 2030s[]
The area where the Watson Development stood was originally the suburb city of North Oak, including some parts of the neighboring Westbrook.[2] Prior to the Fourth Corporate War, this region housed many citizens with comfortable incomes, who fled during the conflict. After the war, refuges from around the metropolitan area flooded the surrounding suburbs, constructing multitude of tent cities. In this northern area however, a recently formed conglomerate of mostly Japanese-based corporations known as the Night City Co-Prosperity Sphere (NCCS) had helped the displaced Asian communities of the old Japantown and Little China districts to move here.[3][4][1]
In the following years, the NCCS invested in this area, spending a lot of money in old and new infrastructures, and renaming the developing district as Watson. As such, despite the many refugees residing here, it was not as bad as in the neighboring suburbs. With the NCCS patronage, the displaced Japanese population settled in a new neighborhood colloquially known as Kabuki, while the southern and central parts of the district were mostly populated by the displaced citizens from the old Little China and other damaged neighborhoods. The Co-Prosperity Sphere also hired the Tyger Claws gang (publicly working as the Kimen-Gumi) to protect the Japanese community in Watson and the rest of Night City.[3][4][1]
2040s[]
By 2040, the first megabuildings planned to house much of the displaced population started to be constructed here. They were not the first on the line, hence why their assigned numbers were so high, but the Co-Prosperity Sphere paid money to ensure they jumped on the list. There were also plans to rebuild the NCART lines above ground and extend them to cover all the districts in the city.[3]
In 2044, a community organizer known as Lucius Rhyne led a district-wide labor strike, which culminated in a general election in 2045 that allowed him to gain the position of city manager.[5] By that year, Watson was a booming district in development designed to become the new heart of Night City. A high-security NCART monorail had already been built to form a loop between the Executive Zone, Little Europe and the Watson Development. The members of the NCCS built high-tech factories in the north of the district, providing residents with reliable jobs.[3][1]
In the following years, immigrants from China took the opportunity to settle here as well, transforming the whole central and southern areas into what would be known as the new Little China of the Watson District.[3]
Locations[]
- HTown
- Megabuilding H10 (in construction)
- Megabuilding H11 (in construction)
- NCPD Precinct #3
- Oumei-ji Temple
- Petrochem Offices
- Petrochem & SovOil Joint Temporary Housing Solution
- Redline
- Red Oktober
- Sakura's
- Smash⁄Cut
- SovOil Offices
- Tora-no-Ana
- Trauma Team Corporate Living Center
- Trauma Team Tower
- Vargtimmen
- Watson Central Cubelife
Major Locations[]
Notable Gangs[]
Notable Residents[]
Notes[]
- The Watson Whammers was a roller derby team in the 2040s made up of residents from the Watson Development.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 PONDSMITH, M. Cyberpunk RED Core Rulebook. Kenmore, WA, R. Talsorian Games, 2020. (pp.294,298–299,303)
- ↑ R. Talsorian Games on Youtube (46:32)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission Kit - Edgerunner's Handbook. Kenmore, WA, R. Talsorian Games, 2024. (pp.20–22)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 GRAY, J. et al., Danger Gal Dossier. Kenmore, WA, R. Talsorian Games, 2023. (p.121)
- ↑ GRAY, J. Night City 2045 Atlas. Kenmore, WA, R. Talsorian Games, 2025. (p.10)