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When Does the Lockdown End in Cyberpunk 2077?

When Does the Lockdown End in Cyberpunk 2077?

At the start of Cyberpunk 2077, your character is under Lockdown. This restricts your character from being able to move to other areas and walk unrestricted. Fortunately, this Lockdown eventually ends but many new players wonder when. So let us answer that question for you in detail.

The Lockdown in Cyberpunk 2077 ends when you complete all the Act 1 Main story missions. You must complete five missions in Act 1. The lockdown will end once you finish The Heist mission.

The start of Cyberpunk 2077 is quite confusing, and not being able to immediately explore the entire city is frustrating. However, you can eventually make it out of the Lockdown if you know which missions are required. To learn more continue reading!

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When Does the Lockdown End in Cyberpunk 2077?

When Does the Lockdown End in Cyberpunk 2077?
Cyberpunk 2077 Promotional Material

At the beginning of Cyberpunk 2077, Night City’s Watson district goes into lockdown. This is where Jackie and V reside. And you will be stuck in this area until the Lockdown eventually lifts. For new players, this can be quite a frustrating experience. It is good fortune, however, that there are a few jobs to complete.

No predetermined amount of time needs to pass for the lockdown to end. However, the game expects that you complete the few jobs that you have been asked to complete and reside in your Quest log.

If you wish to end the Lockdown in Cyberpunk 2077 as soon as possible then this is what you need to do. You need to complete Act 1 of the main story. The lockdown immediately ends when you complete this major section of the storyline.

Reason For the Lockdown in Cyberpunk 2077

In-game screenshot of Cyberpunk 2077
In-game screenshot of Cyberpunk 2077

The in-game Lockdown that occurs at the start of Cyberpunk 2077 is the game’s tutorial. The Lockdown becomes an effective narrative to keep the player in one area, where they can receive a few introductory quests.

This tutorial section is important. It sets expectations on how you will complete quests in the game. Cyberpunk 2077 is quite cheeky when it comes to making sure you don’t leave the early game section. It will even tell you things such as, “turn back, nothin’ out there for you…just yet.” If you try and venture out of bounds.

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What Missions Do You Need To Complete To End the Lockdown?

In-game screenshot of Cyberpunk 2077 Lockdown
In-game screenshot of Cyberpunk 2077 Lockdown

Cyberpunk 2077 has a main questline divided into several acts. There are a total of five missions that make up Act 1. In this section, we will list down all the quests you need to complete to End the Lockdown. Here are all the missions to complete after you leave V’s apartment:

  • The Ripperdoc
  • The Ride
  • The Pickup
  • The Information
  • The Heist

The first mission, The Ripperdoc, and the second mission, The Ride, are perhaps the easiest to complete. You will be able to complete them without much of a hassle. However, the next three jobs will test your skills and prepare you for the other jobs later in the game.

The Heist is the main mission that must be completed. In Cyberpunk 2077 storyline it is the primary objective that the earlier four quests build up to. And thus will require the most amount of attention and involvement from you to complete.

How Long Does It Take To End Lockdown?

How many in-real-life hours it takes for you to end the Lockdown comes down to how much you focus on the story missions. If you completely ignore all of the side objectives and all the additional content that you can engage in the Watson Area, then you can finish Act 1 in a few hours.

This amount of time, however, can drastically increase depending on how much content you choose to engage with. If you enjoy moving around the city, or you’re a fan of the beautiful vistas and landscapes then chances are it’ll take you a little bit longer to get to Act 2.

However, I will urge you to end the Lockdown as soon as possible. Since the map will completely open up after and you will be able to explore far more areas and embark upon a lot of more interesting quests.

How To Begin the Quest “The Heist”?

Once you’ve completed the previous missions called, The Information and The Pickup, you can then move on to the major quest that the story has been building towards, The Heist. This is the big mission that the characters V and Jacking have been preparing for in the previous quests.

To begin this quest you will have to meet Dex at the Afterlife to begin the job. You can quickly get to the Afterlife through a fast travel point. Obviously, the faster you will finish this quest, the sooner you will be able to exit Lockdown.

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Can You End Lockdown Without Entering Act 2?

Screenshot of Act 2 Quest: The Gig
Screenshot of Act 2 Quest: The Gig

No, you cannot end the Lockdown in the opening section of Cyberpunk 2077 without finishing Act 1 of its main story. This is to prevent you from exploring the rest of the game without the tools necessary to complete various missions and objectives that you will receive.

There are several guides and videos on the internet that detail how to exploit several bugs to end the lockdown before finishing Act 1. However, these bugs and glitches have been since removed from the game. A 100% safe method to exit the lockdown no longer exists without entering Act 2 first.


I hope this article helped you understand how to end the Lockdown in Cyberpunk 2077. Simply make sure that you complete all major main story questlines, and enter Act 2 before continuing with quests such as The Gig. Otherwise, you will be perpetually trapped in the lockdown, and no one wants that.

Till next time! Ciao.