What is Cablepunk?

This reference is compiled and maintained by Stephen Oravec (opens in new tab). The works and artists documented here are independent of one another. Inclusion does not imply affiliation. This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in new tab).

Cablepunk (also Cable Punk, Cable-Punk) is a derivative of cyberpunk with an aesthetic language dominated by cables.

History

The first known appearance of the word "cablepunk" on the Web was from Rob Beschizza divining (opens in new tab) "a fashionable subculture" of the future in a January 2007 article in Wired.

In October 2008, Stephen Oravec registered the domain cablepunk.com.

In March 2009, Oravec produced and published the first two works explicitly designated as cablepunk: the photographs Cablepunk #1 (opens in new tab) and Cablepunk #2 (opens in new tab). Oravec published Cinderella Cablepunk (opens in new tab) in February 2014, the first published work of cablepunk fiction.

The founding of independent publishing studio Cablepunk Press (opens in new tab) followed in January 2015, and it republished Cinderella Cablepunk (opens in new tab) in October of that same year. Cablepunk Press is owned and operated by Stephen Oravec.

In October 2015, video game developer Housemarque announced (opens in new tab) they were making a game with Eugene Jarvis. In December 2015, they shared (opens in new tab) a piece of concept art (opens in new tab) by Jakub Rozalski for this "Jarvis Project." In 2016, Housemarque teased (opens in new tab) competitive gameplay, previewed (opens in new tab) additional concept art, and then revealed (opens in new tab) gameplay footage in an official announcement trailer. The game was released digitally in June 2017 for the PlayStation 4 and Windows as Nex Machina (opens in new tab) with Housemarque as publisher. Nex Machina is the first video game labeled (opens in new tab) cablepunk by its creators. In 2019, Limited Run Games pressed a physical edition (opens in new tab) for PS4.

Since 2018, a variety of artists have labeled their work as cablepunk. Much of this artistic output is linked under its relevant medium below.

Works

The works included here are by those who have deliberately labeled their output cablepunk. Works that may resemble a cablepunk aesthetic but have not been labeled as such by their creators are not included.

Illustration

Artists creating cablepunk illustrations include Matt Coleman (opens in new tab), tengu.fdi (opens in new tab), and Yutacustoms (opens in new tab).

Works

Photography

Photographers creating cablepunk images include BuganiniQ (opens in new tab) and Stephen Oravec (opens in new tab).

Works

Synthography

Artists creating cablepunk synthographs include Stephen Oravec (opens in new tab) and proxima centauri b (opens in new tab).

Works

Fiction

Cinderella Cablepunk by Stephen Oravec (opens in new tab) was first published in paperback and for Kindle in 2014. Cablepunk Press republished the novel in paperback in 2015 and for Kindle in 2018.

Works

Video Games

Creators of cablepunk video games include development studio Housemarque (opens in new tab); the collective of Simon Lenain (opens in new tab), Thomas Florent (opens in new tab), Sacha Epry (opens in new tab), Aida Menheim (opens in new tab), and Ma毛lys Daubi茅 (opens in new tab); and Lin_J (opens in new tab).

Works

Interpretations

Stephen Oravec states (opens in new tab) cablepunk is "highlife and low tech," the inverse of cyberpunk, rooted in the consumer electronics of the mid-1970s through mid-2000s: "Digital encoding, physical media, wired connections."

Nex Machina game director Harry Krueger describes (opens in new tab) cablepunk as "basically retro-cyberpunk," emphasizing the aesthetic is built with "primitive building parts. So you see a lot of cables, a lot of these panels with blinking lights."

Yutacustoms notes (opens in new tab) scratch building as an influence on his Brushpen-CablePunk series, and having "absorbed all the look of the industrial, rusty, and cable heavy stuff I seen on my commutes," as well as "street wear," particularly "parkas and puffers."

Last updated March 22, 2026.