'Cyberpunk 2077' Developer Under Investigation By Poland's Consumer Protection Agency
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Featured Image Credit: CD Projekt Red
Following a series of unfortunate events, CD Projekt Red is currently the subject of an investigation by the consumer protection agency in Poland, as a result of the problematic state of Cyberpunk 2077 upon launch.
It's a tale as old as time, or perhaps, it only feels that way because the pandemic has ravaged our perception and understanding of time passing. Anyway. Cyberpunk 2077 was one of the hottest games of 2020, and it hadn't even launched for eleven of those months. After eight years in development and three delays to its premiere, CD Projekt Red assured players that they'd get their paws on their "crowning achievement" of the generation, and enjoy all of the sights and sounds of the grimy and glittery Night City. Well, December 10th rolled around, and we were astonished by the game's performance. But, not in a very positive way.
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Cyberpunk 2077's performance on PC was a little ropy, but it was a walk in the park in comparison to its performance on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Players complained of demonic cars that clipped through the roads and catapulted themselves into the air, NPCs that weren't too bothered about being headless, and saves that corrupted if the player crafted too many objects in their playthrough.
CD Projekt Red even admitted that it had circumnavigated the truth of the situation to Sony and Microsoft, guaranteeing that the game would be in a playable state though it knew that this task wouldn't be achieved. Employees attributed the chaos to mismanagement, and criticised the required crunch conditions seeing as the thing that Cyberpunk 2077 truly needed was more time in the oven.
PlayStation 4 and Xbox One players were eligible for refunds for Cyberpunk 2077, and grumpy investors were quick to point out that their shares in the company had borne the brunt of the fiscal impact. CD Projekt Red promised that it would rectify the issues and asked that they would be given another chance, but the lawsuits were already on their way.
Polish newspaper Dziennik.pl reportsthat the developer is being sued by five US law firms, which is five more than you would really want in this situation. Subsequently, the country's Office of Competition and Consumer Protection has stepped forward to levy a formal investigation into CD Projekt Red following the shambolic launch and support for Cyberpunk 2077.
"We are asking the company for an explanation regarding problems with the game and actions taken by them. We will check how the developer is working on patches or solving issues preventing playing on various consoles, but also what steps [the company] is planning to take regarding people [who requested refunds] and are not happy with their purchase because they can't play the game on owned hardware, despite assurances by the producer," read the statement supplied by the spokesperson for the consumer protection agency.
If the investigation concludes that the developer is liable for its missteps, then CD Projekt Red could be fined 10% of its annual profits. That's a lot of cheddar. We'll keep you in loop as this story progresses.
Topics: News, Cyberpunk 2077
