Polish video game maker CD Projekt focuses on fixing Cyberpunk 2077 -PB

WARSAW, Feb 8 (Reuters) – Polish video game maker CD Projekt is focusing on improving Cyberpunk 2077 and restoring the trust of players and partners disappointed with its flagship game, Puls Biznesu daily reported the group’s CEO as saying.

Shares in the company, one of Polish biggest, slumped at the end of last year amid complaints of glitches in the role-play game featuring Hollywood star Keanu Reeves. CD Projekt is now valued at 29 billion zlotys ($7.78 billion) compared to around 40 billion zlotys before the game’s December debut.

Sony pulled Cyberpunk 2077 from its PlayStation Store after just a week. Since then the firm has been working on improvements.

“The long-term goal for us is regaining the trust of players and our business partners,” Adam Kicinski told Puls Biznesu in an interview published on Monday, adding that the group was aiming for the game to be back in Sony’s store as soon as possible.

Kicinski also said that CD Projekt was sticking with plans to publish its strategy in the first quarter.

“We have been…discussing the direction for the coming years, taking into account the experience from the past weeks, he was quoted as saying.

Kicinski said CD Project would “actively defend” against any legal claims related to problems with the game and had appointed a law firm to represent the company. The company has said in statements that it is facing class action lawsuits in the United States.

Many of the issues with the game were reported on Sony’s older PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One.

Commenting on the reasons for the shortcomings, Kicinski said that adapting Cyberpunk 2077 to the older-generation consoles was a bigger challenge than had been predicted.

“The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in most of the team working remotely, which did not make things easier either,” he said. ($1 = 3.7264 zlotys) (Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)