Why does Mr. Hands sound and act different in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty?

With the Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 update, many welcome changes and additions were made. The cyberware mechanics were rehauled, as was the skill tree. Many micro-improvements were made, and it released alongside the DLC Phantom Liberty. One change, however, took all players by surprise. The apparent change of the fixer Mr. Hands. Not only does he sound different, but he looks different, and behaves differently. What has happened to Mr. Hands?

Mr. Hands in Cyberpunk 2077

Mr. Hands was a fixer in Cyberpunk 2077 that players could rely on for gigs in Pacifica. In the core game, and before the update, this fixer wasn’t anything special, just an eccentric outlet for gigs who was entertaining to communicate with. The 2.0 update and Phantom Liberty have really changed everything about this. Mr. Hands’ change isn’t just a change of voice actor, but something much more, as his behavior and model changed.

Screenshot: PC Invasion

Mr. Hands was liked how he was, and he was a fine character, so to fundamentally change who he was shocked many players, and many are upset that their favorite fixer essentially doesn’t exist anymore, and has been completely replaced. Also, in Phantom Liberty, he isn’t just another fixer anymore, but an integral character to the plot.

What makes it worse, however, is that even new players have reported hearing some lines from the old Mr. Hands, only to then experience the new Mr. Hands, causing confusion.

Related: Best Brawler build in Cyberpunk 2077 2.0

Why has Mr. Hands changed in Cyberpunk 2077?

Nothing official has been released from CD Projekt RED, and so no one will know anything for certain. It does strike me as strange that they’ve reinvented the character, but haven’t commented on it one bit.

There are many potential reasons for Mr. Hands’ transformation. Perhaps the voice actor, Sean Power, wasn’t available, and so they went with Alex Jordan. Even if the voice actor is changed, the behavioural and model transformation still isn’t explained.

I personally reckon that how Mr. Hands was didn’t fit with the character they needed for Phantom Liberty, but they wanted to include Mr. Hands for a particular reason. So, instead of creating a new character, they simply changed Mr. Hands into a new character, to better fit their narrative. This sort of thing will happen all the time in development, but for it to occur for an update so long after release just doesn’t make much sense.

With so many questions being raised about the issue, CD Projekt RED may announce something about this, but it isn’t very likely.

I hope you enjoyed our explanation for Mr. Hands’ apparent body-swapping for Cyberpunk 2077. I also hope you’re not too bummed out by the change. If you want even more help and explanations for Cyberpunk 2.0, PC Invasion has got your back, choom.