Sony pulls Cyberpunk 2077 from PlayStation Store in blow to CD Projekt

TOKYO/GDANSK: Sony Corp said on Friday it is pulling CD Projekt SA's Cyberpunk 2077 from its PlayStation Store and offering full refunds after gamers complained that it was rife with bugs, knocking nearly 20pc off the value of the Polish firm's shares.

The unusual move is the latest blow for Poland's top video games maker, whose shares have tumbled 30pc amid fury from disappointed fans, as well as industry reviewers who complained they had limited access to the title before its Dec. 10 launch.

CD Projekt, whose shares were down 19pc at 0804 GMT, said on Twitter that it was working hard to bring Cyberpunk 2077 back to PlayStation Store as soon as possible.

The backlash against the repeatedly delayed game has led to hand-wringing over the hype that surrounds new titles, the complicity of reviewers in driving that hype and the work environment for rank-and-file developers ahead of release dates.

Kacper Kopron, an analyst at Trigon DM brokerage, said that Sony's move is one of the worst possible scenarios for CD Projekt and expects that expectations for consoles sales to drop by 30-40pc.

"We are highly disappointed by the information, which shows that the game was just not ready to debut in December and the decision to launch it was a big mistake," he said.

CD Projekt, in damage control and widely seen as risking squandering fan goodwill built up over many years, has promised to fix the bugs through updates.

"Both digital and physical copies of the game will be continuously supported by and will receive future updates from the company," CD Projekt said in a statement.

The company added that players could still purchase a boxed version of the game and that all digital copies of the game sold so far via the PlayStation Store remain available for use.