Cyberpunk 2077 doesn’t just polarize. The role-playing game drifts in dozens of different directions at the speed of light. Opinions about the game are extremely divergent and vary depending on what players hoped for, what they experienced during their play and, above all, on which platform they started the game at all. Because especially on PS4 and Xbox One Cyberpunk 2077 is anything but executable.
This messed up console release naturally causes very heated spirits. But even aside from the anger of disappointed fans, there is a lot going on with CD Projekt. Now the Polish company is targeted by the UOKiK (Polish for »Urzad Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów«).
This is that Office for Competition and Consumer Protection, i.e. the Polish Competition Authority. A cartel office that regulates the national market. That the UOKiK is now intervening found that polnische Magazin Dziennik Gazeta Prawna out.
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Criticism of Cyberpunk 2077 – What now?
What does this mean for CD Projekt?
So far it is not known what the final consequences will be for CD Projekt. A press spokesman for the UOKiK has only indicated that they will take a closer look at the matter.
The main action taken by the Cartel Office is to take a close look at the situation at CD Projekt. The statement translated from the Polish reads:
“We’ll be reviewing how the developer is working on the fixes and issues that make the game unplayable on various consoles, but also how they plan to act towards people who have complained and are unhappy with their purchase, there they cannot use the game with their current hardware, despite previous assurances from the developer. “
Accordingly, the office is primarily interested in how CD Projekt will proceed with the situation now. So you have keep a close eye on future updates and the future optimization of the console version and will also look at how CD Projekt behaves towards its customers. The assurances of the developer refer, among other things, to the statement CD Projekt that Cyberpunk 2077 will be playable on the current-gen consoles from the release.
According to the assessment of the Polish lawyer Dominik Jedrzejko that would be Focus on updates and compensation one of the possible approaches that could possibly even circumvent legally mandated penalties.
In the podcast at GameStar Plus we analyzed together with the management consultant Human Nagafi what the cyberpunk debacle could mean for CD Projekt as a company:
more on the subject
After Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt cannot just go on like this
That’s what the lawyer says
Jedrzejko already dealt in December with possible reprisals that CD Projekt could expect after the botched console release. Even then, the lawyer suspected on his blogthat the UOKiK will be interested in this case. In his estimation, this is indeed a misleading marketing.
More about the release of Cyberpunk 2077
According to Jadrzejko, the statements made by the developer and the marketing team for Cyberpunk 2077 suggested to an average buyer in advance that the role-playing game could be fully played on the current consoles. Especially since these consoles are seen as closed systems. Every player expects with a console (unlike a PC) that the corresponding version works smoothly. It doesn’t matter whether CD Projekt was negligent or deliberately lied.
In the worst case, this violation could lead to the UOKiK imposed a finewhich could add up to 10 percent of CD Projekt Red’s annual sales. That would be a considerable sum.
Cyberpunk 2077 alone had sold over 13 million times by December 20, despite the controversy. The Witcher 3 also remains a long-runner. In May 2020, CD Projekt had a market value of 8.13 billion dollars and even surpassed Ubisoft at the time. In the meantime, however, the share price is falling.
This fine is only the worst of many possibilities. Compensation in the form of free content or an accommodating reimbursement concept would also be conceivable.