Sony, Microsoft offer Cyberpunk refunds
Sony and Microsoft have taken unusual measures to appease customers unhappy with CD Projekt SA’s Cyberpunk 2077 game, which was released earlier this month and is riddled with bugs, especially in console versions.
For PlayStation players, Sony is offering full refunds for Cyberpunk 2077 and is removing the title, one of the year’s most highly anticipated gaming blockbusters, from the PlayStation Store.
Microsoft also is offering refunds to anyone who purchased Cyberpunk 2077 digitally from the Microsoft Store, “to ensure that every player is able to get the experience they expect on Xbox.”
Sony’s radical move to pull the game “until further notice” came after the console version of Cyberpunk 2077 debuted Dec. 10, following several delays, to reviews calling out problems and an online outcry from players frustrated with its poor performance.
Poland-based CD Projekt
shares shed 12 percent in Warsaw on Friday, erasing most of this year’s gains.
Warsaw-based developer CD Projekt — best known for 2015’s The Witcher 3, part of a franchise that was turned into a successful Netflix series — has offered refunds to any disappointed players, but Sony is going a step further by entirely removing the game from its store.
Cyberpunk features Hol
lywood star Keanu Reeves as an in-game character and has used the actor as its most visible ambassador in the buildup to its release.
CD Projekt, whose shares have plunged 40 percent since Dec. 4, confirmed Sony’s decision in a regulatory statement.
The studio said it was “working hard” to bring its game back to the PlayStation store and that it had
discussions with Sony regarding a full refund for all gamers seeking one.
It said that “all copies, whether digital or physical, will continue to receive support and updates” to help fix the game’s teething problems.
Trigon analyst Kacper Kopron said Sony’s decision is one of “worst scenarios” for the company as PlayStation represents twothirds of the console market. He expects the move may trim estimates for Cyberpunk console sales by 30 percent to 40 percent.
Erste Group analyst Emil Poplawski cut his recommendation on CD Projekt’s shares. Analysts at MBank and VTB Capital expect the game to be restored to PlayStation’s store after larger fixes in early 2021.
On Monday, the developers posted a message on Twitter saying they “should have paid more attention to making it play better on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.”
But the company hadn’t cleared its offer of a refund with console manufacturers Sony or Microsoft Corp., both of which have stringent refund policies.
This week, many players who requested refunds found themselves out of luck. Sony said it was working to resolve issues with accessing the refund. Microsoft said it has granted refunds to the vast majority of customers who have requested one.
CD Projekt Chief Executive Officer Adam Kicinski was cited as saying by PAP news agency that the gaming studio isn’t currently holding talks with Microsoft about removing Cyberpunk from its Xbox store.
It’s rare for any title to be removed from stores so soon after release. Previous examples include Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIV, which was taken offline for an overhaul following its disastrous 2010 launch, and Amazon’s Crucible, yanked from PC stores earlier this year and subsequently canceled.
Cyberpunk’s developers faced intense public pressure to get the game out this year, rising to the level of death threats, as Senior Game Designer Andrzej Zawadzki tweeted in October.
Six-day work weeks became the norm in the final months leading up to the eventual release, breaking with previous pledges from CD Projekt leaders that the company would avoid imposing a so-called crunch to hurry a game into existence through overtime.
The company has said it’s continuing work to rectify the issues players are encountering in Cyberpunk 2077 — and its prior blockbuster, the Witcher 3, improved drastically after its release thanks to downloadable patches.