Launch revenues double The Witcher 3.
CD Projekt has broken its own financial records following the launch of Cyberpunk 2077 in December.
Preliminary numbers for 2020 see CD Projekt earn $562m in sales revenue, more than double those of 2015 when The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt debuted (thanks, GamesIndustry.biz). Year-on-year, CD Projekt sales revenues quadrupled from a quiet 2019.
Net profit was $303m, triple that of the previous record – again, from The Witcher 3’s launch back in 2015.
Eurogamer news cast: the improvements the PS5 desperately needs
Much of this confirms what we knew already – that Cyberpunk 2077 was a hugely-anticipated game with years of hype and a mountain of pre-orders built up over time.
Back at its launch in December, CD Projekt boasted that Cyberpunk 2077 had racked up 8m pre-orders and had become the fastest-selling PC game of all time. All seemed rosy. But, after launch, the picture quickly changed.
CD Projekt recently detailed its plan to double down on both Cyberpunk and Witcher as its two core franchises over the coming years, and work on multiple AAA projects at the same time to mitigate risk of another launch disaster.
It’s worth remembering Cyberpunk 2077 was CD Projekt’s first major game launch in years, excluding Witcher spin-offs for card game Gwent. The company has been buoyed by continued strong sales of The Witcher 3 – but whether the same will be true of Cyberpunk 2077 remains to be seen.
This week, CD Projekt said it was sticking with Cyberpunk 2077, however – likely as its standalone multiplayer portion now seems like it will become part of that full game, and as the studio continues to work on further improvements which will hopefully see its return to the PlayStation store.
