Cyberpunk 2077 features many characters that players have a chance to team up with throughout the game, but none are directly controllable. However, that wasn’t always the case as CD Projekt Red once promised the Flathead robot the player acquires in The Pickup would serve as a controlled companion.
The reason behind the removal of Flathead as a persistent companion was related to the Techie class’ overall reduction. There were too many overlaps between the Techie playstyle and the more popular Netrunner class, Miles Tost explained to GameStar. Ultimately, Flathead’s powers ended up merely serving the same purpose as Netrunner’s skills, making the robot (via Google Translate) “a pet – as cute as that would be – (that was) superfluous for the developers.”
Fan speculation had been building as to the role of Flathead since its appearance in the 2018 gameplay demo, and fans were once again disappointed. One Redditor wondered, “Why would they announce it just to disappoint their fanbase?” While the mission shown remains in the game, Flathead’s ultimate role in Cyberpunk 2077 was significantly reduced.
