Despite the very disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077, it is still CD Projekt Red's biggest game, and the sales numbers don't lie, as multiple reports suggest.
According to GameRant, Cyberpunk 2077 still performed really well financially despite being delisted from the PlayStation store, a platform that regularly averages 100 million monthly active users. But being booted out from one of the biggest online game stores on the planet apparently helped boost the sales of the latest CD Projekt Red title on other platforms.
Due to the astronomical levels of hype connected to Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt managed to achieve 8 million pre-orders, leading to the game selling an insane 13.7 million copies within the first 10 days of its launch, reports GameSpot. It was the Polish developer's biggest-selling title since its 2015 masterpiece, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Show Me the Eddies and Crowns
Cyberpunk 2077 was pulled from the PlayStation store on December 17th, a week after it was released. This was due to the myriad of bugs, poor optimization, and a generally unfinished vibe that the game had at launch. In fact, it was one of the most disastrous AAA game releases in recent years, alongside the fiascos with Fallout 76, No Man's Sky, and even Assassin's Creed Unity at the start of the last generation.
And it's not just the game's technical issues that made it the talk of the town last year. Apparently spurred by Cyberpunk's buggy release, ransomware hackers managed to steal sensitive data from CD Projekt, including the game's source code which was allegedly sold for millions (the exact amount undisclosed) in a dark web auction. The source code for a version of The Witcher 3 was also among the data stolen.
But despite these problems and since being de-listed from the PS store, Cyberpunk 2077 still sold incredibly well. 56% (around 7.6 million) of the copies sold was on PC, 27% (3.8 million) were on PS4, and 17% (2.3 million) were on Xbox One. This managed to net CD Projekt an astounding USD $563 million in sales last year.
The Witcher 3, on the other hand, just passed a mammoth 50 million total units sold in 2020 as well, while CD Projekt was trying to scramble for a way to fix Cyberpunk.
What's Next For CD Projekt?
The famed AAA developer says that giving up on Cyberpunk 2077 is not an option. CEO Adam Kiciński still believes that they can bring the game to a state where they'd be proud of it, and therefore help it sell for the next few years.
In fact, they look like they want to focus on their two biggest franchises for the foreseeable future, according to CBR. In a YouTube video, CDPR revealed its plans to make more Cyberpunk and Witcher content starting next year, looking to develop games for the two franchises simultaneously.
Cyberpunk 2077 is still seeing patches and hotfixes, with Patch 1.2 being its biggest yet. This is obviously CD Projekt Red's way of trying to keep the game alive to help it sell alongside the massively successful Witcher franchise. So maybe we'll get to see more of Night City, but hopefully in a better-performing, finished state.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by RJ Pierce
