A Polish competition and consumer watchdog group have announced they are monitoring CD Projekt over how they are handling Cyberpunk 2077.
Polish business newspaper Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reports (translation: Google Translate, thanks GamesIndustry.biz) that the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) is looking into CD Projekt. Specifically, they are making sure they are working on patches, and whether they are helping dissatisfied customers.
Spokesman for UOKiK Małgorzata Cieloch explained further.
“We approach the entrepreneur to explain the problems with the game and the actions he has taken. We will check how the manufacturer is working on introducing corrections or solving difficulties that prevent the game from being played on different consoles, but also how it intends to act in relation to people who have filed complaints and are dissatisfied with the purchase due to the inability to play the game on their equipment despite the manufacturer’s earlier assurances.”
Dominik Jędrzejko- attorney-at-Law and partner at Kaszubiak Jędrzejko Adwokaci- reportedly stated on his blog that even with refunding customers and attempting to fix the game, the game may still be part of unfair market practice.
This could result in a fine of up to 10% of CD Projekt’s income, or force an obligation to give those playing the game on older generation consoles additional digital content or refunds for part of the selling price.
“Unfortunately, the decision obliging the president of UOKiK is not always guaranteed if the entrepreneur wants it,” Jędrzejko explains, “and impressing the income, it encourages the penalty. This shows that you cannot market digital products completely detached from reality and you cannot distort the facts about the product.”
UOKiK reportedly does not rule out taking further steps.
As previously reported, the game’s numerous delays and leaked footage were not the end of the woes for CD Projekt Red. One reviewer suffered a major epileptic seizure, and accused the developer on basing the Braindance headset off a medical device designed to intentionally induce seizures.
Despite high praise from initial reviews, users complained of Cyberpunk 2077‘s numerous glitches and bugs; along with poor optimization, and the console version having inferior graphics and more bugs. Even critic reviews that praised the game also discussed those issues.
CD Projekt Red stock value dropped by 29% in a week after the game launched. The developer also had to recommend fans to complete the game quickly and avoid crafting too many items to prevent save file corruption, which was later patched.
CD Projekt Red apologized for the game’s advertising and launch, and offered full refunds. However, two lawsuits have been launched by investors- one in Poland also being an attorney.
A Q&A investor call reportedly had CD Projekt Red denying they had any special agreements for refunds for Cyberpunk 2077 on consoles, and that they were working on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game “until the very last minute.”
Both Sony and Microsoft stated they would offer full refunds for the game. Sony would remove the game from the PlayStation Store, but there were “no talks” of Microsoft removing it from theirs.
Despite selling 13 million copies, the founders of developer CD Projekt Red were predicted to have lost $1 billion USD. The company also shared their “Commitment to Quality” agenda, and FAQ trying to explain how the issues came about.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available on Windows PC (via Epic Games, GOG, and Steam), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Google Stadia. The game is also coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in 2021, and players on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One respectively will be able to upgrade to the next-gen for free.
Image: GOG