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December 7, 2020 8:49:31 am
Cyberpunk 2077 will be available on most gaming platforms, including Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Google Stadia. (Image: CD Projekt Red)
Eight years after being first announced, with three deadlines missed and approximately $ 130 million spent, CD Projekt SA’s Cyberpunk 2077 is finally hitting the market. And with stocks rising in anticipation of the launch, the pressure is on good reception from players.
The Polish independent studio has a lot at stake in its new franchise, given the scarcity of its releases. While smaller games, expansion packs, and its own sales platform provide revenue between releases, its previous main title came out in 2015. That contrasts with several high-profile releases each year from rivals like Ubisoft SA and Activision Blizzard Inc.
Analysts expect the role-playing game to sell nearly 30 million copies in its first year, according to 10 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. That would make it one of the best-selling video games of all time and would add up to more than the five-year sales of the studio’s most successful game, the third installment in the Witcher series, a medieval title that became an original. Netflix Inc. TV series
The initial scores from the journalists’ review, expected as early as Monday, mark his first major test. With the launch scheduled for December 10, the studio has not said when it will release the first sales data, but said it is “really happy” with the number of pre-orders.
The high expectations are evident in CD Projekt stocks, which nearly doubled in 2019 and are up 50% this year, helped by a global gaming industry boom when the pandemic forced people to take refuge at home. The Polish studio has outperformed the Solactive video game index, which rose 40% last year and is heading for a similarly large gain this year.
Cyberpunk, based on Mike Pondsmith’s tabletop role-playing game and influenced by the 1982 film Blade Runner, is set in a dystopian alternate reality of advanced cybernetic implants, fragile social order, and corporate warfare, starring actor Keanu Reeves. Night City’s neon-lit stage offers a vast open world, in which the company’s test leader reported spending at least 175 hours in a single slow playback.
“I watch reviews closely for a sense of momentum as there is an overall correlation between average score and game success,” said Neil Campling, an analyst at Mirabaud Securities, in an email, citing examples from Grand Theft Auto. Top V-Rated and Red Dead Redemption from Rockstar Games by Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. “CD Projekt is obsessed with quality and is determined to follow Rockstar’s reputation for developing best-in-class experience.”
In a potentially promising sign, some recent AAA launches have received mixed receptions, while others have been postponed until 2021, indicating less intense competition. Activision Blizzard Inc.’s “Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War” is rated 77 out of 100 on the Metacritic review aggregator, which, along with weaker-than-expected sales, prompted concerns from analysts.
This year’s highest-scoring game on Metacritic is a PlayStation 4 Persona 5 Royal remake, with a score of 95. Eleven games have received a score higher than 90, all but one are part of an existing series or franchise.
“Reviews for different platforms may differ, but any score below 90 can trigger a negative reaction, a score of 95 or higher can be a slight positive, touch 98 or more very positive,” said Michal Wojciechowski, analyst at the brokerage. Ipopema Securities in an email.
The Polish company first announced plans for the game in 2012. For a long time, the venture without a firm schedule was primarily a topic for fans of development studio CD Projekt Red. Marketing efforts for Cyberpunk began in earnest in 2018. But the hype turned to frustration and stock price losses earlier this year as the launch was delayed multiple times. The most recent postponement was necessary to ensure the technologically advanced product runs smoothly on older consoles, the company said.
In an attempt to avoid further delays, the company backtracked on its earlier promise not to force overtime on the project, and asked developers to work six days a week to finish production. The co-CEO later internally apologized for his comments about the call to investors downplaying the “crisis,” an industry term for excessive overtime in game development. The company has spent 494 million zloty ($ 134 million) on projects under development, according to last month’s financial statement of results.
CD Projekt’s market value of 40 billion zloty caught up with and briefly surpassed European gaming leader Ubisoft this year, and it was only recently that e-commerce platform Allegro.eu SA dethroned the company as the largest Warsaw stock.
Cyberpunk enters the market a month after the launch of next-generation consoles from Microsoft Corp. and Sony Corp. While the shortage of consoles caused digital sales to drop during the Black Friday period, games that coincide with the launches of consoles tend to have higher sales. To smooth out the hiccups for gamers holding out until they get their hands on a new team, CD Projekt has promised that previous-generation buyers can upgrade their game to the new consoles for free early next year.
