Cyberpunk 2077 update costs contribute to 45% drop in CD Projekt Q3 2021 net profit
The rigors of updating Cyberpunk 2077, as well as the start of unannounced projects led CD Projekt to year-over-year reduction in net profits for Q3 2021.
It’s no secret that the shortcomings of Cyberpunk 2077 upon release were an albatross CD Projekt had to carry throughout most of 2021. The game still sold well, but its many issues forced the company to put other priorities on hold to fix it up through several massive patches and updates. In CD Projekt’s Q3 2021 earnings report, the company revealed that this was part of a substantial year-over-year drop in net profit alongside the start of new, unannounced projects.
CD Projekt shared its Q3 2021 financial results on its investor relations website on November 29, 2021. According to the report, the cost of updating and fixing Cyberpunk 2077 on multiple platforms throughout the previous year played a substantial part in a 45 percent reduction in the company’s Q3 2021 net profit. Indeed, updating the game forced CDPR to shuffle a lot of its ongoing work, including delaying the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of Cyberpunk 2077 and Witcher 3 back to Q1 and Q2 2022 respectively.
While Cyberpunk 2077 was cited as a major contributor to CD Projekt’s net profit reduction in Q3 2021, it wasn’t the only factor. The company recently acquired Digital Scapes (renamed CD Projekt Vancouver) and Drake Hollow developer The Molasses Flood, and has stated that with these acquisitions in tow, it is beginning work on unannounced projects based on a CD Projekt IP. This also contributed to net profit loss year-over-year for Q3 2021.
“This year-on-year reduction in net profit is mainly due to expenses related to updating Cyberpunk and exploratory work on new projects which are at an early stage of development, where the associated costs are reported directly in our P&L statement for the current period,” the financial report reads.
Either way, it seems the rocky launch of Cyberpunk 2077 continues to haunt CD Projekt nearly a year later. Even as the company posted growth in revenue, it remains to be seen if this is the last quarter in which we will see the effects of that launch on CD Projekt’s financial reporting, especially as we await the PS5 and XSX versions of the game next year.
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replyTJ Denzer posted a new article, Cyberpunk 2077 update costs contribute to 45% drop in CD Projekt Q3 2021 net profit
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the kind of result that might make ownership think twice about rushing to ship next time
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Or whether the should have made in the first place.
Somebody just came out and said "We should make GTA except cyberpunk" without asking why they should, or how they would execute it.-
the response to the very first reveals and initial sales make pretty clear that 'GTA except cyberpunk' was a hugely popular idea and a great choice for a second franchise for the studio to build out
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Maybe I should add emphasis: why they should.
I don't think CDPR ever had the resources or really even the vision to make it happen. If the had figured it this out then they could have redirected to something else original that was within their capabilities and understanding.
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The world was theirs after Witcher 3. They fucking blew it out their ass and shit all over their own reputations. Idiots.
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To be fair, there's no shortage of beloved AAA devs shitting the bed lately. It's all the rage now.
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Most of those devs are known for buggy launches though. CDPR was the golden child for awhile. Not anymore.
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Witcher 3 wasn't strife free. You needed a hefty PC to run it proper. It just was overshadowed by Arkham Knight's launch, which also if yiu had a halefty PC you could blow past most the issues.
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Naughty dog delivered with Last of Us 2 last year. Stable as hell. Great story. A+
It’s still possible to make good games-
It's linear as hell so I don't think they score any points for stability.
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It did further the narrative in every way I could imagine.
The story was the best part of the game, I feel
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I wonder if Cyberpunk is going to scare them straight back to Witcher 4…
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If they didn’t ship the game last year and released it this year, a year later, would it be a better game? In other words, does the fact that it’s released make updating it harder?
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True. They could also alter the story, pacing and missions. They can’t now
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