CD Projekt has had a rough go of it recently. The publisher is still trying to get Sony’s approval to return the game to the PlayStation Store, the game’s second director and head of production recently resigned due to accusations of bullying, and despite several patches, the game is still pretty buggy. Combine all of that with the news that the company’s net profit is down more than 60% in the first quarter from the same time last year, and it’s easy to see that Cyberpunk 2077‘s release hasn’t been what the company was hoping for.
That might explain why CD Projekt RED is planning to “start parallel high-budget developments from 2022,” according to a report form Reuters. This transition is why former Cyberpunk director Adam Badowski has stepped down to oversee the studio’s transition into developing multiple AAA projects simultaneously. In addition, the studio is also looking for merger and acquisition opportunities.
While these will help the company in the future, CD Projekt is well aware that “future sales growth” depends in large part on figuring how how to bring players back to Cyberpunk. To that end, CD Projekt “confirmed plans to publish free downloadable content and update both Cyberpunk and The Witcher 3 to next-generation consoles in the second half” of the year.
While their current problems are understandable, it’s worth noting that last year was a record year for the company when its “shares hit an all-time high of 464.2 zlotys in the run-up to Cyberpunk’s launch.” Those shares have lost over 60% of their value.