In a statement addressing likely concerned investors, CD Projekt has revealed that Cyberpunk 2077, the controversial RPG once thought of as the year's surest blockbuster, has sold more than 13 million copies despite some number of refunds coming from retailers both physical and digital.
After it was revealed that the game was in a much lesser state on last-gen consoles as compared to current-gen consoles and PC, several things happened. Most pressingly, the studio offered refunds for those who wanted one, though it did so on behalf of retailers which had different refund policies and in some cases would not accept them anyway. In such cases, CD Projekt stressed that players should reach out to them directly for further assistance.
Because pre-release access to the last-gen console versions was completely restricted, the game's standing among players and critics has taken a huge hit since launch. It debuted on embargo day, days before release, at an OpenCritic 91 average, making it a top-five game of the year in aggregate critic score. But in the weeks since launch, as more players have experienced the game across a multitude of platforms, its average has fallen to a 77, still "Strong" by our rubric, but teetering on "Fair."
Such a fall from grace is representative of the game's way of upsetting investors as well, as many have since questioned the CD Projekt management regarding how and why the game launched in this state, especially when it seems like its troubles were known to the team given how they restricted access to only high-end PC gameplay ahead of launch.
But as a means of cooling tempers, CD Projekt has stated to investors the game has still sold through more than 13 million copies, even after you subtract the number of refunds processed. That's still a massive number, even if more refunds may come in soon. PlayStation has already pulled the game from stores to avoid any further potential refunds, while Microsoft's in-place refund policy allows the game to stay there and for digital refunds to occur as desired.
Of course, the 13 million number conspicuously lacks details like the total number of refunds, plus it can't possibly provide an accurate number of folks not buying the game due to the bad press or its unavailability on some platforms. It seems the team is hoping to quell concerns around the game's once-promising outlook. It may work, but it's a story being told in real-time. We'll continue tracking it for now.
