CD Projekt Red loses 29% in stock value during Cyberpunk 2077 launch

Cyberpunk 2077 is finally here, and its reception has generally been very strong. Despite a lucrative launch, the company behind the game (CD Projekt Red, or CDPR) is suffering financially. Case in point: CDPR’s stock price has tanked in the days surrounding the game’s launch.

The company’s share price started the week at PLN (Polish złoty) zł453, but as of press time is trading at zł320.50, a 29.24% drop. The company’s stock fell 8.5% over Thursday alone, the launch date of the highly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077.

This slip in value is surprising, considering Cyberpunk 2077 has so far been a commercial and critical success. The game currently enjoys a score of 90 on Metacritic and generated over US$500 million in preorders alone. Sales numbers tracking the game’s launch on PC pegged it as the biggest launch of all time on the platform.

Current speculation as to the cause of the decline in the company’s stock price revolves around the potential cost of ongoing support. While the PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X versions of the game were largely met with praise, there were many critics and gamers who pointed out numerous bugs, glitches, and performance issues that will need to be ironed out.

Perhaps the single biggest point of failure for the title is its lackluster performance on last-gen consoles. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One ports have been raked over the coals by reviewers and players alike, with many decrying these versions’ low-resolution textures, sparsely populated city, graphical hiccups, and overall low quality compared to other versions.

CDPR may be heavily pressured to patch these issues, and that will require lots of ongoing work. This will result in growing costs to fix and maintain the game. The growing number of criticisms about the game proliferating on social media have also worked to tarnish CDPR’s reputation. This damage may have eroded investor confidence, resulting in a drop in the share price.

What do you think of CD Projekt Red’s trading woes? Let us know in the comments.