Sporting severe technical issues at release, Cyberpunk 2077 has become a hot topic in the gaming community, with many criticizing CD Projekt Red's latest title and the poor management that went on behind the scenes. However, it seems the controversial nature of the sci-fi RPG hasn't prevented it from being one of the company's most successful ventures to date, with the studio announcing today that it saw record-breaking profits during 2020.
Posted on CD Projekt's official Twitter account, the company revealed that it brought in an estimated PLN 2.139 billion in consolidated sales revenues (which roughly equates to around $564 million). The sales also bagged the company a consolidated net profit of PLN 1.154 billion (which roughly equates to $303 million).
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To put the two statistics into context, CD Projekt Red's previous best year was 2015, when it shipped The Witcher 3. Back then, the company pulled in PLN 798 million in consolidated sales revenues and netted a profit of PLN 342 million. That means 2020 brought in over two times as much revenue as the studio's last record-breaking annual intake and tripled the profit it secured. It's easy to see why the game managed to generate such high figures for the company, especially as it was lorded as one of 2020's most highly-anticipated games and drummed up huge pre-order numbers.
While the sales numbers are no doubt high, Cyberpunk 2077 has been something of a double-edged sword for CD Projekt Red. The game launched in a disastrous state, coming loaded with game-breaking bugs, frequent crashes, and an array of visual issues which worsened the experience. Although playing the game on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X came with its share of frustrating issues, it was at its worst on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with players soon demanding refunds from CD Projekt Red. PlayStation even removed the game's digital copy from its marketplace and has refrained from re-adding it.
In the months since, the studio has promised to fix the game and deliver the experience it initially intended, offering patches that have fixed everything from game-breaking issues to strange visual glitches. CD Projekt Red also delayed the game's enhanced next-generation ports, which will now launch in the latter half of this year. In a recent interview with Reuters, CD Projekt Red CEO Adam Kicinski made it clear that the studio will not abandon Cyberpunk, claiming "We are convinced we can bring the game to such a state that we can be proud of it." It'll be interesting to see whether the company's commitment to improving the title will give it a comeback story in the same vein as No Man's Sky or Star Wars: Battlefront 2.
Cyberpunk 2077 is out now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions also in development.
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Source: CD Projekt Red, Reuters