CD Projekt CEO: Launching Cyberpunk 2077 broken 'was for sure wrong'; sold 14M copies

GG Brief Editorial Desk · AI-assisted, source attributed

Michał Nowakowski, joint-CEO of CD Projekt, said releasing Cyberpunk 2077 in December 2020 in a poor technical state "was for sure wrong," citing COVID-related disruptions and team exhaustion. The December 10, 2020 launch prompted Sony to remove the game from the PlayStation Store and led to thousands of refunds, yet the game still sold nearly 14 million copies at launch. Nowakowski rejected the idea that investors forced the release, describing the decision as complex and psychological rather than driven by external mandates. The admission matters because the commercial success produced multimillion-dollar bonuses despite the high-profile technical failure and controversy over the release timing around CD Projekt's fiscal year end.

• Cyberpunk 2077 launched on December 10, 2020 in a technically poor state, prompting Sony to remove it from the PlayStation Store and triggering thousands of refunds.
• Joint-CEO Michał Nowakowski said the decision to launch in that state "was for sure wrong" and cited COVID disruptions, team exhaustion, external pressure and developer fatigue as factors.
• Nowakowski denied that investors explicitly demanded the release, calling the choice "much more complicated and psychological."
• Despite the technical problems, the game sold nearly 14 million copies at launch and generated multimillion-dollar bonus payouts for executives and developers; the December timing raised questions because CD Projekt's fiscal year ends December 31.