CD Projekt knew Cyberpunk 2077 had issues but released it anyway

CD Projekt management knew how bad Cyberpunk 2077 performed on last-gen hardware and knew about many of the core issues, glitches, and bugs, anonymous sources tell Bloomberg's Jason Schreier.

Just days ago In a recent apology video, CD Projekt Group CEO Marcin Iwinski told gamers that the studio didn't really know about many of Cyberpunk 2077's bugs, including just how bad the game performed on PS4 and Xbox One. Now anonymous developers say otherwise; CD Projekt management not only knew about the issues, but they chose to release the game anyway instead of delaying the game further.

"Every change and improvement needed to be tested, and as it turned out, our testing did not show a big part of the issues you experienced while playing the game,"Iwinski said.

The sentiment, according to Bloomberg, was that CD Projekt had "made the Witcher 3" and things would ultimately work themselves out. These delusions of grandeur became apparent once Cyberpunk 2077 was taken off the PlayStation Store, the main storefront that serves over 100 million console gamers. In short, CDPR took the "release now, fix it later" approach that many developers take with live games like Fallout 76 and even No Man's Sky.

CD Projekt's messages were already mixed before the apology video. In a conference call to investors, CD Projekt management admitted they "didn't spend enough time looking at" current-gen versions of the game and were "updating that version of the game until the very last minute." Staffers say they had warned CD Projekt's higher ups about the issues but there simply wasn't enough time to fix everything--unless the game were delayed further.

The studio also said it chose not to show base PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game because those ports simply weren't ready. The company chose to hide the game running on those platforms because they were working on it up until launch.

"We've actually shown console footage, but never on the last-gen consoles. The reason is that we were updating the game on last-gen consoles until the very last minute, and we thought we'd make it in time," CDPR co-founder Marcin Iwinski said in an investor's call.

This withheld information is now the basis for multiple lawsuits. So far we've counted thirteen U.S.-based law firms that are suing CD Projekt for possible securities fraud. Shortly after the controversy broke out, CD Projekt shares dropped by over 30% and caused investors to lose money. This shareholder loss combined with the willful negligence and withheld information are the main arguments in the lawsuits.

CD Projekt says it plans to fix Cyberpunk 2077 on PS4 and Xbox One with a series of big patches and updates. Other content, including the game's free DLC and paid expansions, have been delayed to give CDPR more time to work.