Pacifica
Pacifica was originally envisioned as Night City's vacation resort for the ultra-wealthy. It was to be true paradise, catering to corporate employees and tourists alike and with Militech security contractors protecting its golden sandy beaches, luxurious hotels, and unmatched entertainment.[1] By 2077 the district has become a lawless and anarchic Combat Zone.[2] no longer considered part of Night City's administrative boundaries.
History
Pacifica’s history is a story of failed ambition, corporate hubris, and violent fallout—once envisioned as the crown jewel of Night City, only to become one of its most lawless and fractured districts.
In the late 2050s and early 2060s, plans to transform Pacifica into a world-class resort district took root. Spearheaded by powerful investors and backed by the Night City Council, the project promised a luxurious future filled with opulent hotels, casinos, spas, shopping centers, and even an amusement park and sports arena. Corporations like Euro Business Machines, Petrochem, and most notably Militech poured billions of eurodollars into the initiative. Major construction firms such as HFS, Zhirafa, Corp-Bud, and Aurochs joined the effort, while an influx of workers—primarily Haitian laborers—arrived to fuel the massive buildout. The western areas became known as Coastview and West Wind Estate, while the east was planned as a district named Serenisands. Old structures were torn down and replaced with ambitious new designs, connected to the rest of the city via an upgraded high-speed road system.
However, the dream quickly faltered. A powerful explosion at one of the construction sites brought the entire project to a halt. Although the official investigation yielded no definitive answers, whispers spread about Militech’s buried secrets—specifically, a forgotten network of laboratories and bunkers dating back to the 2020s, and possibly connected to the mysterious Cynosure project. In response, the City Council walled off Serenisands, claiming a gas leak, while Militech erected a barrier cutting the sub-district off entirely. Despite this setback, construction briefly resumed.
This momentum was ultimately shattered in 2069 with the outbreak of the Unification War. As the conflict escalated, financial priorities shifted, and investors pulled out en masse. Fears that Night City would become a battleground—especially in the vulnerable southern districts—accelerated the withdrawal. By 2070, the resort project was dead, leaving behind unfinished concrete skeletons and half-built towers. Pacifica was effectively abandoned.
In the vacuum left behind, the Haitian community—already deeply rooted in the area—began to reorganize under the protection of the Voodoo Boys, a netrunner collective with deep cultural and spiritual ties. Largely ignored by the NCPD, the Voodoo Boys stepped in to defend the community. Around the same time, Militech officer Colonel Kurt Hansen seized parts of Serenisands, ignoring orders from the New United States to withdraw. With Arasaka returning to Night City at the invitation of Councilman Lucius Rhyne, minor skirmishes broke out between Arasaka, Militech, and the military forces of SoCal and NorCal. The violence eventually subsided with the signing of the Arvin Accord.
But the chaos only deepened in Pacifica. On the western side, the Voodoo Boys led riots against both city authorities and corporate interests. In the east, Hansen rejected the peace and founded his own paramilitary faction: BARGHEST. Using Serenisands—now walled off and defensible—as a base, he transformed the area into a militarized enclave, recruiting mercenaries, gangers, and renegades. With both Voodoo Boys and BARGHEST claiming territory, Pacifica became a haven for refugees, criminals, and the unwanted.
In the following years, the city government abandoned all services to the district. Water, power, and access to CitiNet were cut off. Yet both the Voodoo Boys and BARGHEST adapted, creating their own infrastructures. In 2072, violent protests led by the Voodoo Boys successfully repelled a major NCPD operation. On October 17, the local police precinct was dissolved, and Pacifica was officially declared a Combat Zone. The Voodoo Boys assumed control over western Pacifica, while BARGHEST entrenched themselves in their territory, now called Dogtown.
By 2076, Pacifica had deteriorated further into poverty and anarchy. The ruins were filled with squatters and scavengers. Tourists avoided the area entirely, and gangs ruled the streets. Despite this, city officials occasionally made half-hearted attempts to promote the idea of a revitalized Pacifica, clinging to the fantasy of the luxurious resort it was once meant to be.
In 2077, Mayor Lucius Rhyne reclassified Pacifica as an "independent district," effectively removing it from Night City's jurisdiction. This political maneuver allowed him to exclude Pacifica's crime statistics from city records, presenting a falsified 3% drop in crime during his reelection campaign. As Rhyne sought public approval, new interest emerged in the form of Kang Tao, a corporate player expressing a desire to build a server facility in Pacifica. A proposal was introduced to offer Kang Tao property in the district for a single eurodollar, in exchange for their assistance in restoring order.
Despite its broken infrastructure and violent reputation, Pacifica remained a symbol—not of luxury or prosperity, but of what happens when corporate greed, political manipulation, and urban neglect collide. It stood as a warning of unchecked ambition, a place where power had once envisioned paradise, but only managed to create a battleground.
Type
District
Included Locations
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