A bit of a choomback story.
There’s stiff competition for the greatest gaming comeback stories, but Cyberpunk 2077 will always be part of the conversation. CD Projekt Red was coming off the back of the outstanding Witcher 3, had all the time and money in the world, and the dream setting: Hell, it even had Keanu Reeves. Anticipation and expectation were sky-high.
Then it launched. Cyberpunk 2077 arrived riddled with bugs and, while undeniably gorgeous and filled with one-off moments of brilliance, was also full of underbaked systems and far from the great leap forward in RPG design many were hoping for. It was a bit of a disaster and PC players actually got off relatively lightly: The game launched in such a state on PlayStation that Sony took the unprecedented step of removing it from sale entirely (if temporarily).
This was back in 2020. Since then CDPR devs have spoken about how “crushed” the studio was by the reception but, with the luxury of resources and time, it was able to kick off a determined effort to improve Cyberpunk 2077 which also basically acted as “group therapy.” CDPR began to doggedly address the game’s many issues and make major improvements, with every step leading up to 2023’s Phantom Liberty expansion: PCG’s Ted Litchfield described this as “a thrilling capstone for Cyberpunk 2077’s 3-year redemption arc.”
Sales were never exactly a problem for Cyberpunk 2077, with the game making back its development budget on the first day, but in this case virtue has been its own reward for CDPR. The studio has just announced that Cyberpunk 2077, as of today, has sold over 30 million copies, and Phantom Liberty has sold an additional eight million.
These are the kinds of numbers that put Cyberpunk 2077 in some exclusive company, and nudging the all-time top 20 in terms of sales. It’s still a way off the Witcher 3, which at the last official tally had sold north of 50 million, but over time who knows?
CDPR certainly doesn’t have trouble keeping the lights on, anyway. The studio’s latest financial call offered some brief updates on the future slate, including that Cyberpunk 2 remains in development across various CD Projekt studios, but the big news being the next Witcher (codenamed “Polaris”) entering full production:
“I’m pleased to announce that several weeks ago [Polaris] moved to full-scale production,” CD Projekt chief financial officer Piotr Nielubowicz said. “Of all our projects, this one is currently the most far along, and we’re starting the most intensive phase of development. I wish to thank the team for its effort and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for further progress.”
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