It seems no game is safe from delays since The Last of Us Part II and Iron Man VR got pushed indefinitely due to COVID-19. One studio that is not worried is CD Projekt Red due to its finances; Cyberpunk 2077 will remain on track to release for September 17.
“Our plans haven’t changed – we’re steaming towards the September release of Cyberpunk,” said CD Projekt exec Adam Kiciński. “There is no shortage of motivation and we also possess all the tools needed to facilitate remote work. We’ve been operating in this mode for over three weeks and to-date results confirm that we can carry on with all our operations without major disruptions.”
The news may sound familiar, as we reported previously that CD Projekt Red does not see a delay happening again. A financial statement looking back at the company’s revenue through 2019 gives a reaffirming look at the current situation with developers. The four-quarter was a record-breaker as the studio generated more than any other quarter in its history. Which it should, as the Netflix series The Witcher boosted sales for The Witcher 3. Along with that, Geralt’s final adventure got a port over to the Nintendo Switch, and Gwent launched on Android and iOS as another bump in money flowing into the company.
Geralt getting his boots shined (Credit: CD Projekt Red)
Another factor in keeping its finances in order, CD Projekt Red cites its “longstanding strategy of avoiding debt and accumulating cash reserves” to assist its staff while working from home as it continues the final touches on Cyberpunk 2077.
Other progress comes down to getting the game rated. On March 10, the upcoming sci-fi RPG got sent to the ESRB, PEGI, and other rating boards around the world for the official rating. Today, studio head Adam Badowski tweeted an announcement that most of these organizations have made a decision about Cyberpunk 2077.
Very happy to share some progress on this — Cyberpunk 2077 has already been rated by the vast majority of rating boards around the world. https://t.co/gwUXYOXpyb
— Adam Badowski (@AdamBadowski) April 9, 2020
The news means that no new major development will occur besides some fixes. Outside of technical issues like glitches, the main obstacle that the Polish studio faces is localization. Senior vice president of business development Michal Nowakowski spoke about the current dilemma with some of the voice actors recording some of the final lines.
“However, we have managed to record the vast majority of the voiceovers, but there are always some last pick-up sessions, and we’re not very worried about that because that’s something we can record even later and add in the form of a digital patch, so by the moment the customers actually buy the game in September they would just download a file which would add the missing pieces of recordings. But that process has been hampered a little.”
September is a competitive month for the gaming industry. Last year saw the release of games like Borderlands 3 and Gears 5, so depending on what the world looks like, Cyberpunk could face tough competitors. Nowakowski is not worried about what the climate may look like upon launch.
“You’re never launching in a time that’s exclusive to you,” he said. “There’s no such thing. September has always been a competitive period of time and we’ve always been aware of that. If it becomes a tad bit more competitive, that’s fine. We believe we’re going to be launching with a title that’s going to be a must-have title.”
CD Projekt Red has confidence in its financial situation during the coronavirus to make sure another delay will not occur. Five months is a long road, especially as the pandemic is rapidly changing the world, especially the video game industry. We will have to wait and find out to see if the Polish developer can hit its target.
