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CD Projekt Red may have just found it's silver lining, as the latest reports from SuperData indicate that Cyberpunk 2077 created a new benchmark in the gaming industry. It produced the biggest game launch of all time, based on digital revenue and digital units sold.
Despite the seemingly never ending plethora of issues that CDPR faced, Cyberpunk 2077 has somehow done the impossible. According to the data, over 10.2 million copies of the game were sold worldwide across all platforms in December.
80% of Cyberpunk 2077’s digital sales in December were on PC. An estimated 4.72 million copies were sold via pre-orders alone for the PC, making it the fastest selling PC game of all time, according to CDPR.
According to reports, sales for the PS4 would have been greater if the game had not been taken off Sony's Playstore.
CD Projekt Red has pledged to improve the game over time via regular updates. A short while ago, the first major planned update post launch, patch 1.1, went live.
SuperData's verdict on Cyberpunk 2077
"A successful marketing campaign and the reputation of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt provided the hype necessary for the CD Projekt Red title to break records despite issues including performance problems on consoles, widespread glitches and the indefinite removal of the game from the PlayStation Store. An extremely high share of digital sales (80%) were on PC, likely due to the delisting on PlayStation and overall state of the console versions. Regardless of the short-term financial success, the critical backlash means the developer will now have to invest significant resources fixing the game in order to rehabilitate its image before the launch of its next title."
Cyberpunk 2077 not out of hot water yet
Cyberpunk 2077 may have succeeded on the surface, but as the layers are pulled back, a different reality presents itself.
In a Bloomberg interview with former and current CDPR staff, Esports journalist Jason Schreier revealed numerous issues during the development phase. Crunch time, unrealistic timelines, delusionary ambitions, technical hiccups, and overall shoddy planning, steered the game towards disaster.
The studio has also been hit with but two class-action lawsuits. The lawsuits aim to reimburse investors, as they were misled about the condition of Cyberpunk 2077 prior to launch. Following the aforementioned issues, CDPR's stocks tanked recently, adding to the list of woes.
Amidst all the negativity, during an interview with TV New Zealand, president and co-founder of Valve, Gabe Newell, defended CD Projekt Red. He claimed to have enjoyed playing the game and praised the studio for their ambitious project.
Despite the success and record breaking numbers, the lack of transparency between the studio and fans has left a stain on their reputation. The short term monetary gains will not sustain if the problems revolving around Cyberpunk 2077's launch are not resolved.
CDPR has a lot of fixing to do, not just to the game, but to the studio's image as well. Only time will tell how things play out.
