Cyberpunk 2077 was announced in May of 2012 and was released eight years later in December of 2020. The internet following of Cyberpunk 2077 and its (formerly) critically acclaimed developers: CD Projekt RED grew substantially in the seven years up to release. The game was a success before its launch having already sold eight million pre-orders. Unfortunately, upon the highly anticipated release of Cyberpunk 2077, the game and its developers were met with massive controversy. Cyberpunk 2077 was riddled with distracting bugs, texture pop-ins, and framerate issues. These problems were even worse for players using the last generation of consoles. The most distracting issue to most, however, is that CD Projekt RED hasn’t given a proper explanation for why the game was released in this state.

“Unfortunately, the amount of bugs I’ve experienced really does need to be mentioned,” IGN Reviewer, Tom Marks said. “ The issues I encountered were extremely frequent and distracting.”

As mentioned before, these issues were even more prominent on last-gen consoles. What’s even more questionable is that CD Projekt RED did not give out review copies of the game for those consoles, nor did they allow reviews to showcase gameplay before the launch of the game. 

“First of all, we would like to start by apologizing to you for not showing the game on base last-gen consoles before it premiered and, in consequence, not allowing you to make a more informed decision about your purchase,” CD Project RED said via news-letter. “ We should have paid more attention to making it play better on Playstation and Xbox One.”

The apology letter then goes on to promise refunds to anyone who bought the game. This promise was an empty one. In reality, CD Projekt RED never discussed a total refund policy with retailers. This lack of communication, and the overall state of the game, led Sony to remove Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store.

“ SIE (Sony Interactive Entertainment) strives to ensure a high level of customer satisfaction, therefore we will begin to offer a full refund for all gamers who have purchased Cyberpunk 2077 via PlayStation Store,” Sony said via news-letter. “SIE will also be removing Cyberpunk 2077 from PlayStation Store until further notice.”

And as if the entire situation couldn’t get any worse, CD Projekt RED is now under investigation by Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection. The federal investigative office is specifically looking into “Confusion around the games release” and issues regarding refunds. They have demanded an in-depth explanation from CD Projekt RED and, depending on the answer, may fine the company up to ten percent of its yearly profits.

“Despite the issues, the game has still sold over 13 million copies—and that takes into account the returns,” video game journalist, Scott Robinson said. “Even so, the company’s reputation has taken a hit and it could lose even more pending the results of this investigation.”