Last week HEXUS reported upon Sony acting to remove Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store due to quality of experience issues. The gameplay on the older PlayStation 4 was reportedly particularly poor, but the game has been banished from the entire store for now. Those that already purchased the game can go through a streamlined refunds process. On Xbox, Microsoft isn't being so strident, rather it is simply warning customers about the game's potential issues at this time.
Reports of the Sony ban, and gameplay experience issues in the traditional gaming media, as well as social media, have no doubt slowed sales of Cyberpunk 2077 recently. Now, Polish investment analysts have put some figures together to provide an estimate to clients on the impact of CDPR's launch mess.
Bankier.pl, via TweakTown, reports that six financial firms have revised sales predictions downwards for the highly anticipated title as follows; launch sales to be 15.1 million (-4.1 million, -21 per cent), and one-year sales estimated at 25.4 million (-6.6 million, -19 per cent). Interestingly the firms expect console sales to account for 70 per cent of Cyberpunk 2077's lifetime sales, thus the size of the scale-back.
Having read reviews of the title and plenty of discussions about issues, that are being continuously ironed out with patch releases from CDPR, I share the philosophy of several HEXUS readers: I will definitely pick up this title in the future, probably when it is released in a GOTY edition or similar bundle.
CDPR accused of providing "materially misleading information" to investors
The founders of CDPR have already lost a billion USD or more from market reaction to their launch blunder. However, investors are more angry than sad, as the game's publishers / developers should have had the inside information to predict what would happen, while those outside the company think they have been fed "materially misleading information".
A report from the NYT, via Eurogamer, says that a Warsaw-based lawyer and investor is inviting other parties to join a class action suit for any investor affected by the "suspension of the sale of the Cyberpunk 2077 product". It will be interesting to see what happens with this 'gaming firm sued for game bugs case' and the involvement of a New York law firm might hint that the disgruntled are looking for significant compensation.
CDPR shares are currently valued at 256PLN. At the beginning of 2020 they were 286PLN but were 443PLN just ahead of Cyberpunk 2077's launch date.
