By: Nick Gambino
Right out the gate Cyberpunk 2077 seemed to be an all but guaranteed failure. After much hype, the game launch was met with criticism lobbed at the game’s many bugs and glitches. This in turn resulted in Sony, Microsoft and the company behind the game, CD Projekt Red, offering full refunds to anyone unhappy with the game.
Despite this launch catastrophe, Cyberpunk 2077 has somehow sold 13 million copies just two weeks after release. And before you say anything, yes, that accounts for refunds.
“Based on reports obtained from digital distribution platforms and data collected from physical distributors, it estimates that by 20 December inclusive gamers have purchased over 13 million copies of Cyberpunk 2077,” an investor report reads. “This figure represents the estimated volume of retails sales across all hardware platforms (factoring in returns submitted by retail clients in brick-and-mortar as well as digital storefronts).” This also includes all the refund requests that were e-mailed directly to CD Projekt Red.
So, we’re talking 13 million players who still have the game in their possession. That’s pretty impressive, enough to make it the biggest selling game of the year. How did this happen? If the RPG game is so bad and virtually unplayable on earlier consoles like the PS4 and Xbox One, how did it manage to do good business?
Well, for one, it apparently works pretty well on newer consoles and PCs, with minimal bugs. That compensates for criticisms hurled at its performance, or lack of it, on other consoles.
The New York Times ran a story alleging that CD Projekt Red tried to hide these known glitches and bugs, resulting in plenty of customers buying the title on PS4 and Xbox One, thinking they were getting a functional game.
After years of promises that this would be a next-level gaming experience, Cyberpunk 2077 was ultimately a let-down. That doesn’t mean the ride is over yet. The company promises updates over the next couple months that will patch and fix up the many technical issues. There’s a possibility that they’ll be able to fix enough to turn the tide and allow players to see a pretty decent game buried under the glitchy rubble.
