The anticipation continues to build as we are 10 days (as of writing) from the release of Cyberpunk 2077. What we have read from CD Projekt Red’s Q3 2020 earnings report (transcribed by SeekingAlpha) reveals that the highly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 is outperforming the Witcher series based on its pre-orders. CD Projekt Red’s CFO Piotr Nielubowicz spoke about the company’s successful earnings.
“Second change the nicest of all liabilities deferred revenues growth by over PLN 77 million [$20.5 million USD], mainly related to Cyberpunk royalties on selected preorder sales and advances on minimum guarantees from our distributors,” Nielubowicz said. “This is the biggest increase of deferred revenues we ever experienced.”
When accounting for which of the pre-orders are physical or digital, Nielbuowicz feels it is “moving potential split” between how players are pre-ordering the studio’s upcoming RPG. He did say that it is looking like digital will surpass physical if it doesn’t sell as evenly as it seems. Despite any unknown answers on the data, he did mention that Cyberpunk 2077 pre-orders are passing up Witcher 3, which was the most successful entry in the trilogy.
The longer a game is available, the more it shifts towards digital sales, at least based on how sales have gone for the Witcher series.
“On Witcher 3, it’s vast majority. And on Witcher 2 and 1, it’s — let’s say 99% of the revenues we generate are digital. So, this is the only direction that can be expected in that near and longer term.”
This is a glimpse at a potentially huge release for Cyberpunk 2077, which has been hyped up for the past seven years since its initial teaser trailer. The success of Witcher 3, which continues to rake in millions of dollars, has plenty of eyes on CD Projekt Red, seeing if it can repeat that spark as it delivers plays a sci-fi world with the breathtaking Keanu Reeves from The Matrix and John Wick franchises.
What do you think of how the pre-orders are going for Cyberpunk 2077 and how it stacks up against Witcher? Let us know all of your thoughts on this story in the comments.
