CD Projekt Red’s long-awaited action RPG Cyberpunk 2077 released on December 10 with a notable number of issues and bugs, particularly on base PS4 and Xbox One consoles. The resulting controversy and consequences to the game developer’s hard-won reputation have been extensive, resulting in emergency investor meetings and a significant loss to CD Projekt Red’s stock value.
Anticipation for the game, announced to be in development in 2012, was so high that even mainstream media began to cover the game’s imminent launch and its post-release setbacks. One television news reporter, while discussing how Cyberpunk 2077’s disastrous launch has so far cost the founders of CD Projekt Red $1 billion, did not hesitate to make a mocking quip at the end of her story segment.
Twitter user KrystalSim shared a recorded BBC news broadcast in which the news anchor quoted from CD Projekt Red’s now notorious statement that seemed to promise refunds for Cyberpunk 2077 that the company had no grounds to offer. The game developer’s apology, reported the news presenter, “says rather brilliantly—this is my favorite line of the day—it should have paid more attention to making it play better. Genius, absolute genius.” The anchor then finishes her segment with a grimace of disbelief and the sarcastically optimistic observation that “at least [buyers] will get a refund.”
The controversy surrounding the marred Cyberpunk 2077 release is all the more egregious in the eyes of many gamers because CD Projekt Red had established a reputation for being trustworthy and consumer friendly. After the success of The Witcher 3, the excitement for its next game release was incredibly high. The futuristic dystopian role-playing game amassed eight million sales in pre-orders alone, a number that many games never reach even years after launch.
But the old adage “the higher one climbs, the harder one falls” is in CD Projekt Red’s case apparently accurate. Microsoft has announced that it will be offering full refunds to anyone who purchased the game through its digital marketplace. And, in a stunning turn, Sony removed Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store entirely and also promised a refund to any buyer who requested it.
The move by Sony is especially noteworthy because the company has a notoriously strict refund policy that typically only allows reimbursement if a game hasn’t been downloaded yet. In the case of Cyberpunk 2077, even those who have played the game for hours can receive their money back. CD Projekt Red’s latest release now sits on a very short list of titles, alongside Hello Games’ No Man’s Sky, to have been pulled from the PlayStation Store due to quality issues.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X version coming in 2021.
