By Anna Pruchnicka
GDANSK (Reuters) – Polish video games maker CD Projekt on Thursday said it had sold 13.7 million copies of its flagship Cyberpunk 2077 game last year despite a bug-ridden launch, and would pay a dividend of 5 zlotys per share after revenue surged.
With a budget of 1.2 billion zlotys ($316.19 million), Cyberpunk 2077 was CD Projekt’s most-anticipated game since 2015’s ‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’, but it has been delisted from Sony’s PlayStation Store since shortly after December’s problematic launch.
“This was a huge lesson for us, one we will never forget – but I believe now is the time to look to the future,” CD Projekt joint Chief Executive Adam Kicinski said in a statement following the release of the company’s 2020 financial results.
Once an investor darling, CD Projekt has lost about 50% of its market value since December amid the Cyberpunk problems and is now valued at around 17.4 billion zlotys.
Revenue of 2.14 billion zlotys was up more than fourfold from the previous year and smashed a record set after the release of The Witcher 3, helped by a surge in gaming as COVID-19 lockdowns kept people at home.
However sales of Cyberpunk 2077, featuring Hollywood star Keanu Reeves, fell short of an average analyst forecast of 14.5 million copies.
The bulk of the sales were on personal computers, where the game was generally considered to perform better than on older consoles.
CD Projekt’s future sales growth hinges on attracting more Cyberpunk 2077 players after fixing glitches and on a return to the Play Station store, as unlike rivals Ubisoft and Electronic Arts <EA.O > it has long development cycles for games.
The company said last month it would publish free downloadable content and update Cyberpunk 2077 for next generation consoles this year, but had reconsidered a standalone multi-player version of the game, raising concerns about future revenue growth.
(Additional reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko; Editing by Edmund Blair, Kirsten Donovan)
