Kiciński advised CD Projekt Red’s path forward would be focused on fixing player experience on last-gen consoles and continuing to improve gameplay for PC gamers.

Questions to the board primarily focused on two areas: whether Cyberpunk 2077 was released too early and information on the refund policy implemented early Monday.

Marcin Iwiński, co-CEO and co-founder, clarified that the studio is not “encouraging gamers to return the game” and expressed hope that consumers would be patient and wait for the updates to roll out. One free update has already been released to last-gen gamers, with another slated for release in the next seven days. Two larger patch updates are currently scheduled for January and February.

Michael Nowakowski, vp of business development, also confirmed that partners Microsoft and Sony are participating in the refunds, sharing the financial burden with CD Projekt Red. Both companies had come under criticism from fans this week for not honoring refunds. Neither Sony or Microsoft responded to VENN’s requests for comment.

Nowakowski advised users to check Microsoft and Sony’s respective refund policies, which may stipulate returning the game within a certain time frame or usage. CD Projekt Red was not certain at the time of the call if data surrounding refunds would be available by Christmas, or if that information would be shared outside the company.

Microsoft’s refund policy requires returns within 14 days of purchase, as does Sony’s, though the latter stipulates the content cannot have been downloaded or streamed before requesting a refund — unless the content is faulty. Sony does not define what constitutes “faulty” content.

Regarding Cyberpunk’s release, which was delayed numerous times from its original April 14 launch date, Nowakowski said that developer headcount was a factor. “In terms of delivering the game at a certain point, it’s really not about the number of people,” he said. “It’s not like throwing in the last month 200 or so people would actually help.”

Kiciński leveled the blame for performance issues on internal and external testing, affected in part by COVID-19. Working from home decreased the number of playtesting CD Projekt Red was able to conduct, as many testers lost access to testing centers and did not have the required equipment at home.

Nowakowski was upfront that the shortcoming of Cyberpunk 2077 on last-gen consoles was the result of CD Projekt Red focusing primarily on PC and next-gen performance and not affording enough attention to the experience on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. He denied pressure to launch on Dec. 10 as being a factor to releasing the game before it was ready for all platforms.

The board was also questioned on what the implications of massive updates for Cyberpunk 2077 are for future projects and DLCs. Kiciński said it was too early to judge, as the company was focused on the needed Cyberpunk 2077 improvements at hand. He also clarified that CD Projekt Red’s subsidiary studio Spokko has its own teams outside of Cyberpunk, so development on future Witcher games will not be affected.

It was not all gloom and doom on the Monday call, as the CD Projekt Red management team emphasized strong initial sales of Cyberpunk 2077, particularly on the PC. 59 percent of the game’s 8 million pre-order sales were for PC platforms, with 41 percent of sales on consoles. There is no breakdown available for how much of that 41 percent went to last-gen consoles.

Photo courtesy of CD Projekt Red