CD Projekt Red’s bottom line hasn’t suffered much under the strain of last year’s embarrassing launch, and the team already has its sights on Cyberpunk 2077’s next-gen console release.
Several investors asked about CDPR’s plans for testing the next-gen edition during a recent earnings call. CDPR reps replied that there would be no public beta, same as last time, but that QA was now among their top priorities. Investors were further assured that the time reserved for testing would be sufficient moving forward. The actual work will be handled by a third-party contractor.
The company’s top brass told investors that only about 30,000 copies were refunded through their Help Me Refund campaign. This represents a fraction of the roughly 13.7 million units sold just in December 2020. They went on to mention that the PlayStation Store suspension had a considerable impact on sales since they were effectively cut off from a large portion of the market. The hope is that a return to the storefront, along with content updates will boost future sales.
While not dwelling on a sales breakdown by storefront, a little under 10% of all copies reportedly went through GoG.com. Steam has handled the bulk of all digital sales figures, with Stadia all but dismissed in comparison. Considering the figures involved, Cyberpunk 2077 also benefited from Valve’s 80% cut, in place of the usual 70%. This kind of deal is reserved for games that produce over $50 million in revenue.
Oddly enough, the Epic Games Store wasn’t mentioned either during the presentation or the Q&A segment. If you feel like checking the transcript yourself, the bits about taxation are a particular page-turner.
At the tail-end of the call, investors inquired on when CDPR expected to see Cyberpunk 2077 back on the PlayStation Store, next-gen or otherwise. The reply they received made clear that all that the team could do was fix and improve the game. The final decision lies entirely with Sony.
That being said, Cyberpunk 2077’s next-gen release is all but certain to appear on the PlayStation 5 eventually. In case you’re wondering how the current PS5 version holds up, feel free to use this flattering review to scratch that itch.
