What just happened? Cyberpunk 2077 might be considered a failure in many consumers' eyes, but it still helped CD Projekt to the company's best-ever financial results. Sales revenue was more than double that of 2015, the same year The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt launched.
As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, CD Projekt's preliminary numbers for 2020 included $563 million in sales revenue, four times more than the previous year. That's an all-time high figure for the polish company, more than two-and-a-half times the previous record: $210 million in 2015, most of which came from the launch of the third Witcher game.
It was also a record year for net profits. The $303 million was triple the previous record of $89.8 million---also set in 2015. The company's final results for 2020 are expected to be announced on April 22.
The incredible hype surrounding Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt's biggest launch since The Witcher 3, saw it secure 8 million pre-orders. It also became the fastest-selling PC game of all time.
With plans for the ambitious, GTA V Online-like multiplayer element being "reconsidered" and CD Projekt Red restructuring to develop multiple AAA games simultaneously, it was starting to look as if Cyberpunk 2077 would be quietly abandoned by its developer, but joint CEO Adam Kiciński recently confirmed this is far from the case.
"I don't see an option to shelve Cyberpunk 2077. We are convinced that we can bring the game to such a state that we can be proud of it and therefore successfully sell it for years to come," he said.