Zrevnur: Considering that a simple Google search yields links claiming ~2M returns overall (without hard proof) I would also like to know.
Learn to Google (or DuckDuckGO), it's not that hard:
https://www.ign.com/articles/cdpr-issued-some-30000-refunds-for-cyberpunk-2077 https://www.gamepressure.com/editorials/was-the-amount-of-cyberpunk-2077-refunds-insignificant/z540a I do think the ~500M revenue vs. 50M returns (in cash, not units) is realistic. Most people don't bother, and despite all the hate CDPR still have a reputation, so people trust the game will be fixed.
Also most of the sales were PC versions afaik, and the PC version isn't half as bad as people say. It wasn't even Bethesda-level broken at release. Sill I'd like to read an honest post-mortem, maybe in a year or two.
I don't know what made the board of directors (who took the blame) release the game in this state. My guess is a myriad of circumstances coming together: The dev team simply was burnt out after a year of crunch. Death threats after the announcement of delay before (pandemic driving people crazy), shareholders wanting their cut at last...
I do think the game - patched up properly, and the recent patches actually show that they simply weren't finished - is a really good game underneath. Probably not as outstanding as Witcher 3, which may have two reasons:
- They bit off more than they could chew with their promises of life-paths and all. With Geralt they kinda were on safe territory, the Witcher saga is something every Polish geek knows and loves. Me too, btw. The CP world is something they needed to worm their way in, and actually they did with impressive results when it comes to world-building.
- It's rumoured they re-wrote the entire story when they got "Neo" as Johnny Silverhand, to give the "star" more room. Yeah well. No matter his (IMO brilliant) performance, this turned the game into a much more streamlined, movie-experience, and the promised many choices and consequences got axed. I understand the decision from a marketing point of view, but if that really happened, I don't agree with it.
Nevertheless, I don't think the lawsuits have much ground. CP77 sold like sliced bread, even with 10% refunds. The dropping stocks are just part of the financial game, with the obvious financial success of the game nobody can seriously blame CDP. Any "false advertising" claims CDP can brush off with "work and progress" and "subject to change" messages featured prominently in all pre-release trailers and material. And the CDP shares have been massively overrated for quite a while now (C'mon, worth more than UBI and EA, with countless AAA released per year, vs a Polish studio with one release every five years, and an online shop that barely makes do?). That was a bubble if I've ever seen one... and any judge with some sense will laugh the allegations out of court.
Regarding the bonuses: I don't know in what ways those bonuses for CEO had been fixed in contracts, but the right thing to do if they really cared would have been to refrain from them, and give the money to those who made CP77 possible, and to those who had to take the brunt of the anger when it wasn't what was promised, including GOG support. Kinda sad, that management rather wants to play CorpoRat, than honouring their Street Kids and Nomads. Just shows how far they were from the game and what it tell (in many brilliant ways) in the end. Maybe CDP (without the R) should rename to Arasaka.
