We reported last week that game developer CD Projekt was in talks to settle a class-action lawsuit stemming from the infamously botched launch of Cyberpunk 2077, a game that was riddled with bugs and delivered such poor performance on consoles that Sony pulled it from the PlayStation Store and many retailers offered refunds. CD Projekt claims that the talks are now complete, and the following is the amount that it has agreed to pay: The price is $1,850,000 USD.
While a judge will almost certainly have to accept the settlement, it appears that the principal plaintiffs and their attorneys settled for a small fee in return for “relinquish[ing] any and all claims against the Company and members of its Management Board.” That’s especially impressive when you consider the the game had a development budget of over $316 million (according to GamesIndustry.biz), recouped that whole development and marketing budget in digital pre-orders alone, and didn’t experience much of a refund impact.
Maybe the plaintiffs didn’t have much of a case to begin with? It’s worth emphasizing that this case (technically, four lawsuits merged into one) was filed by shareholders who claimed the corporation deceived them about financial success, not by players who bought the game. Despite the game’s apparent success, the company’s image has deteriorated, sales expectations have been cut, and the stock price has dropped by 54 percent since last year.
CD Projekt has pledged to improve the game on several occasions and has released a succession of patches, implying that it would ultimately become the game it promised. The studio revealed in late October that next-gen upgrades for both Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 will be postponed until 2022. “Apologies for the lengthy wait,” the business said, “but we want to make things right.”
