Night City wouldn't be an accurate representation of futuristic America without a subsect of Second Amendment nut-jobs obsessed with their vision of law and order. For 6th Street, it's hard to even consider it a "vision." While the origins of the gang may have stemmed from a perception of weakness from the Night City Police Department, the 6th Street gang members are far from noble vigilantes. Their values and interpretations of "the law" are highly subjective at best, selfish at worst. Clearly, 6th Street was inspired by the last four years of United States history in pivotal ways, but in the context of Cyberpunk 2077, the societal structure is obviously very different.
In the weeks leading up to Cyberpunk 2077, as well as post-launch, we'll be diving into various aspects of the game's lore and world in-depth. The world and source material of Cyberpunk, as well as what's specifically coming in Cyberpunk 2077, is a diverse neo-futuristic world full of all kinds of interesting characters and locations. This week, the pseudo-patriotic and gun obsessed 6th Street gang are the focus. As mentioned last week, the gang finds themselves in a perpetual turf war with the Valentinos. It's clear that Jackie Welles and Johnny Silverhand have no love for the 6th Street gang, but players will be able to influence V's relationship with them.
False Law and Order In Cyberpunk 2077
The 6th Street gang are an organization of ex-mercenaries, ex-military, and ex-corporate security specialists, all of whom are hell-bent on establishing their distorted vision of order wherever they claim their turf. Members of the gang are identified by their various adornments of the Stars and Stripes, alongside an irregular balance between military gear, leather, and camouflage. Cyberware used by 6th Street is largely functional, ranging from cyber optics to pain editors. Generally, any military-trained personnel (or civilians looking to gain military training) fall into the gang over time, especially if they're indoctrinated early. 6th Street's headquartered in Arroyo, but they're spread throughout various sectors of the Santo Domingo district in Night City.
Members of the 6th Street gang are self-righteous ex-soldiers enforcing their own dominance under the guise of law and order. In reality, 6th Street engages in the same gang activity that many of the other gangs of Night City partake in: firearms trafficking, robbery and extortion, among more extensive feats of violence. Their weapons smuggling business in particular is what they're most known for, considering they have particularly strong alliances with many of the Nomad groups outside of Night City. They do indeed patrol 6th Street controlled neighborhoods as a form of "protection," but it's not like the Valentinos were their presence is widely accepted by tradition.
Veterans Who Believe They're Above the Law
6th Street was largely born out of a desire to enforce "the law" better than the NCPD, who from the gang's point of view, was not doing their job sufficiently. Acting as an extemporary police force, without any semblance of permission from the NCPD or the government, a bunch of disgruntled war veterans took matters into their own hands. 6th Street was originally formed by veterans of the Fourth Corporate War in 2023, all of whom believed in a distorted view of "justice." Throughout various neighborhoods, members of the gang would establish their turf and ward off perceived hoodlums and thugs, but 6th Street is a far cry from a peacekeeping organization.
Comparatively speaking, 6th Street isn't inherently violent unless they're provoked, but they sure make it easy for passerby to provoke them. As soon as 6th Street members find someone on their turf they don't recognize, extortion is the name of the game for them. Any small businesses under their controlled neighborhoods are forced to pay protection money to 6th Street in exchange for their "services." The gang's reach isn't necessarily Night City's biggest; however, their relative immunity from the NCPD's blind eye makes them very influential in their turf. That's largely why they've stood so strong against the Valentinos turf war, despite having less manpower.
6th Street's Many Ways of Interacting with V
Depending on the lifepath players choose, V could be working with the 6th Street gang very early on. Players picking the Nomad lifepath will presumably run into members of 6th Street often, considering how well connected they are to various Nomad organizations in the Badlands. Even in other lifepaths, any missions for the Valentinos will almost certainly have players crossing paths with 6th Street. However, regardless of lifepath, not many of V's friends or allies are the biggest fans of 6th Street. Johnny Silverhand, V's sidekick throughout Cyberpunk 2077, expresses his distaste very clearly:
"Ugh, hate those bastards. Vomit lofty patriotic bullshit all day."
Jackie Welles is no friend of 6th Street either, mostly because of his history with the Valentinos. That being said, any quests or missions taking place in the Badlands of Night City will almost certainly involve 6th Street, most likely as foes. They'll have no shortage of weaponry or military trained soldiers to take on players as well, so they won't be pushovers.
Cyberpunk 2077 releases on December 10, 2020, for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.