Things Aren’t Going Well Over at CD Projekt Red
CD Projekt Red was expected to have a worse 2021 compared to 2020 as a result of the backlash that the company received following the release of Cyberpunk 2077. Although the AAA title had a relatively good launch on PC, its console versions were a different story. To date, Cyberpunk 2077 remains de-listed from the PlayStation Store. Even then, things at CD Projekt Red are actually a lot worse than you would think. According to a report from Reuters, CD Projekt SA’s profit fell by more than half compared to last year. The company did not specifically mention just how many copies of Cyberpunk 2077 were sold during the first quarter of 2021. However, the report states that Cyberpunk 2077 made up a huge bulk of the company’s first-quarter sales. Overall, the net profit of the Polish company fell by 64.7%, bringing it down to just about $8.9 million (32.5 million zlotys). This is a far cry from the projected 80 million zlotys that CD Projekt SA was expected to bring in during the first quarter of 2021. CD Projekt SA had to spend a lot of money to fix Cyberpunk 2077 post-launch, which had a huge impact on the net profits. In addition to lower net profits, CD Projekt SA also saw its revenue drop by 2 percent. The company also saw its shares drop by more than 60% in value compared to last year before the launch of Cyberpunk 2077.
What’s Next for CD Projekt Red?
The effects of the backlash from Cyberpunk 2077 can be felt throughout the entire gaming industry. Even though studios will not admit it outright, but most if not all are more afraid of releasing half-assed games than ever before. For CD Projekt Red, its future depends on how it responds to the fallout from Cyberpunk 2077. So far, the company has made numerous adjustments. This includes acquiring a new studio while also shifting its strategy to make way for parallel game development in the future, among others. Another useful piece of information coming from the report includes CD Projekt SA’s plans to start high-budget developments in 2022. At the moment, it is still too early to tell what this could mean. Given Cyberpunk 2077’s current state, CD Projekt Red wouldn’t want to risk another PR blunder by announcing the development of a new game before it even fixes Cyberpunk 2077. Not to mention, CD Projekt Red has yet to release all the expected DLC and expansions for Cyberpunk 2077. Despite everything that has happened to CD Projekt Red in 2021, how the company has handled it deserves commendation. So far, the developers have remained fairly transparent about what’s going on with Cyberpunk 2077. In fact, a new game director for Cyberpunk 2077 was brought in to help oversee the fixing of current bugs and issues while helping with the development of additional content for the game.
