Skip to main content

Cyberpunk 2077 maker sued by investor after game’s disastrous launch

Cyberpunk 2077 launched to great fanfare earlier this month, but its arrival quickly descended into chaos as gamers complained of numerous bugs, especially on legacy consoles, that made it pretty much unplayable on some platforms.

The maker of the role-playing action game, Poland-based CD Projekt Red, has since issued a number of fixes, with more promised next month.

But the updates have come too late for one person, who is now suing CD Projekt, parent of CD Projekt Red.

Plaintiff Andrew Trampe — an investor in the company — sued in federal court in Los Angeles on Thursday, December 24, requesting that the suit be accepted as a class action on behalf of others who invested in the gaming company this year.

The legal action is aiming to recover damages for CD Projekt investors under the federal securities laws. As noted by NBC News, which first reported the lawsuit, shares in CD Projekt have fallen by about 38 percent since shortly before the game’s release two weeks ago.

The suit alleges the company issued “materially false and/or misleading” statements about the game’s readiness for market, one of which claimed the product was “complete and playable.”

It also accused the defendants of failing to disclose that Cyberpunk 2077 was “virtually unplayable” on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One because it contained “an enormous number of bugs.”

Indeed, the situation was deemed so serious by Sony that it took the unprecedented step of removing the game from the PlayStation Store while at the same time offering customers refunds. CD Projekt Red and Microsoft have also started to offer refunds for disgruntled customers. Digital Trends offers a guide on how to get a refund for Cyberpunk 2077.

Days after the game’s release, CD Projekt Red apologized for the disastrous launch, admitting that it “should have paid more attention to making it play better on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.”

Digital Trends has reached out to CD Projekt for comment on the lawsuit, although the company recently said that it wouldn’t be making any statements to the media until January 2021.

Editors' Recommendations

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty DLC not coming to last-gen consoles
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty's new character.

CD Projekt Red today announced Cyberpunk 2077's expansion via a surprise teaser trailer. The clip shares a few details about the plot, characters, setting, and release date of the upcoming DLC. However, one of the most important details is that it won't be coming to last-gen consoles.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty — Official Teaser

Read more
CD Projekt Red isn’t slowing down, for better or worse
Ciri looking over her shoulder in The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt

The past year-and-a-half havs not been kind to Polish developer CD Projekt Red. The studio -- part of CD Projekt Group, a company that also owns the online games marketplace GOG -- faced enormous criticism with the release of Cyberpunk 2077 and has since been busy fixing the game. In the time since, the studio has faced setback after setback, with its announcements leaning more toward a project being delayed rather than good news for fans.

Outwardly though, the company is appearing to shake off the dust of Cyberpunk 2077. While its short-term ambitions are pointed exclusively at past releases, the studio has future plans. It's looking forward -- and in a big way. A recent earnings report from the company revealed that it's working on numerous unannounced projects, one of which is being co-developed by another studio, The Molasses Flood, and will be based on one of CD Projekt Red's franchises.
Flooding the pipeline
CD Projekt Red's current content plans seek to reinforce what the studio already has out there. Cyberpunk 2077 recently received a current-gen update and will get its first major story expansion next year. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is also set to get its own current-gen update, though its release date has been postponed indefinitely following CD Projekt Red's decision to bring development in-house.

Read more
Cyberpunk 2077 support bleeds into 2023 with story expansion
Holding a gun to an enemy in Cyberpunk 2077

During an investor relations call, CD Projekt Red revealed that its long-awaited story expansion for Cyberpunk 2077 will not be released this year. Instead, the expansion is set to release sometime in 2023.

https://twitter.com/CyberpunkGame/status/1514646107434987532?s=20&t=RlvdedDMZ8OHf66Mznx86Q

Read more