CD Projekt is the latest company to release its financial results for the previous quarter. During the presentation, it stated Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 PS5 versions are both still targeting release for later this year. However, in a follow-up question and answer period during the earnings call, as reported by VGC, CDPR then said the schedule could change and both titles may slip into 2022.
Cyberpunk 2077 has been plagued by issues since its release. Many patches and hotfixes have since addressed some of the game’s issues, the latest of which also introduced the first free DLC drop of a vehicle, an alternative appearance and two jackets. CD Projekt believes the game is now at a “satisfactory level” and it has since returned to the PlayStation Store 6 months after it was removed, albeit with performance warnings from Sony. This has left a third of the team to concentrate on the PS5 version of Cyberpunk 2077 while approximately a quarter of the team develop its first big DLC expansion. While the developer is still telling players the PS5 version is targeting late 2021, its message to investors was slightly different.
CD Projekt’s SVP of business development Michał Nowakowski said:
The target is to release the next-gen version of Cyberpunk 2077 late this year. At the same time, keeping in mind the lessons we have learned during the past year and taking into account that this project still remains in development, we can’t say with full certainty that the production schedule will not change.
The PS5 version of The Witcher 3 is in development at Saber Interactive. While targeting a release later this year too, Nowakowski explained this game may also be moved to 2022:
As with Cyberpunk 2077, our goal is to release that game still in late 2021. However, similarly, the development process is ongoing, and we cannot be absolutely dead certain that the release schedule will not change. But for the time being, we definitely are aiming with both titles for late 2021 and I don’t want to be more specific at this moment in time.
The “ongoing intensive work on the part of the development team on updates and further development” of Cyberpunk 2077 are the primary reason the company’s costs and expenses increased by 68% in the first half of 2021 compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, CDPR’s net profits dropped by 28% to PLN 105 million ($27.6 million) despite a 29% increase in sales. Cyberpunk is indeed quite a lesson to learn that games shouldn’t always be rushed to release solely to meet proposed financial targets.
[Source: CD Projekt, VGC]
