It’s safe to say that CD Projekt Red’s action role-playing game Cyberpunk 2077 was one of the most highly anticipated releases of 2020, and multiple launch date delays only seemed to make the gaming public more eager for it. So when it finally came out, the game’s numerous bugs and performance issues seemed all the more egregious when weighed against fan expectations. Within 10 days of Cyberpunk 2077’s release there was talk of a class-action lawsuit.
Shortly after launch, Sony announced that it would be removing the game from its online store for an unspecified amount of time and, six months later, Cyberpunk 2077 is still delisted from the site. Particularly on the PS4 and Xbox One, players experienced glitches that at times made the game unplayable, including incredibly slow rendering times, frame rate drops, texture bugs, and broken animations, to name a few.
Many people believe that CD Projekt Red knew about the issues, given that it limited day one reviews to the PC version, and released the game anyway. Multiple class-action lawsuits were filed in the ensuing months and four of them, all filed in the United States, were ultimately rolled into one massive case because many of the complaints in the separate suits pertained to the same issues. When questioned during a shareholder meeting on May 25, CDPR’s board member Piotr Nielubowicz revealed that the new consolidated lawsuit against CD Projekt Red is slated to be filed at the end of June.
A new lead plaintiff has been appointed for the class-action lawsuit and the court has selected a law firm to serve as the main representative for the claimants. “As of today, we are not aware of the value of a potential claim,” stated Nielubowicz through a translator. Some of the plaintiffs in at least two of the previously separate suits were CDPR shareholders, who claimed that the company caused financial harm to investors by misleading them about the quality of the console versions of Cyberpunk 2077. At one point amidst the controversy, Business Insider reported that CDPR’s stock value had dropped by 22 percent, a nine-month low.
Additionally, a representative of CDPR stated that Sony removing the game from the PlayStation Store impacted the game’s sales on other platforms, as the decision dissuaded players from buying the game at all. The company also took a financial hit as Sony, Microsoft, and CD Projekt Red began refunding purchases, resulting in an estimated $51.2 million loss in revenue.
That loss doesn’t mean that the company’s finances have ended up in the red, however. In April 2021, CD Projekt Red revealed that it saw record-breaking revenue in 2020, with the company bringing in an estimated $564 million in sales revenue and a net profit of roughly $303 million. This is nearly triple the company’s previous profit record from The Witcher 3.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions also in development.
Source: Video Game Chronicle
