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Frustrated and angry staff posed questions to the board during an internal video meeting Thursday that began with the administration apologizing for the disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077, according to two people who were present. It was an appropriate environment for a company whose motto, posted on posters throughout its Warsaw office, is “We are rebels.”
The developers asked blunt questions about the company’s reputation, the game’s unrealistic timelines, and incessant overtime in the months and years leading up to the game’s release on December 10.
The meeting took place ahead of Sony Corp.’s shocking announcement that it would remove Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store and offer full refunds to any customer who requests it. During the staff meeting, CD Projekt directors said they had reached an agreement with Sony, but did not provide details. In a Twitter post on Friday, the company said that “following our discussion with PlayStation, a decision was made to temporarily suspend digital distribution” of the game.
A spokeswoman for CD Projekt said the company would not comment on the internal meeting discussions.
Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the biggest games of the year and has been a financial success, selling over 8 million pre-orders and setting sales records for PC games. But gamers found the game full of bugs, particularly on the next-gen PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles, which sent CD Projekt’s stock plummeting and led fans and critics to describe Cyberpunk 2077 as unfinished. Shares of CD Projekt fell 12% in Warsaw on Friday, marking a steady decline this month that has erased gains for the year.
During the development of Cyberpunk 2077, staff endured multiple extended overtime periods, including mandatory six-day weeks to finish the game, Bloomberg reported. When asked about this crucial moment in the question and answer session, the directors said they had plans to improve production practices in the future, but did not elaborate, according to a person who was there.
An employee asked the board why it had said in January that the game was “complete and playable” when that was not true, to which the board responded that it would take responsibility. Another developer asked if the directors of CD Projekt felt it was hypocritical to play a game about corporate exploitation while waiting for their employees to work overtime. The answer was vague and evasive.
Many industry watchers have wondered why Cyberpunk 2077, which was first announced in 2012 and delayed three times in 2020, still appears to be unfinished. Several current and former staff members who worked on Cyberpunk 2077 have said the same thing – the game’s timelines, set by the board of directors, were always unrealistic. It was clear to many of the developers that they needed more time.
By Jason Schreier
