The Lawsuits Are Stacking Up For Cyberpunk 2077
The hits just keep on coming for CD Projekt Red, the studio behind Cyberpunk 2077. After fans cried foul over the number of bugs present in the game, multiple companies began offering refunds for the title. Near the end of last month, a class action lawsuit was filed against CDPR, alleging that the company purposefully misled shareholders and customers, knowingly releasing a product that was filled with bugs and performance issues. Now, the studio has revealed that it has been targeted by yet another class action suit.
According to an official notice posted to CD Projekt's website, "CD PROJEKT S.A. ... received confirmation from a law firm cooperating with the Company that a second civil class action lawsuit had been filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California[.]" The lawsuit covers the same ground as the previous suit, which was filed in the State of New York.
"The complaint does not specify the quantity of damages sought," reads the announcement. However, CD Projekt has stated its intent to fight against the suit.
The news of this latest lawsuit comes right on the heels of further accusations against CD Projekt Red. In an article published Jan. 15, 2021, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier interviewed several members of Cyberpunk 2077's development team. Some of the interviewees (many of whom wished to remain anonymous) claimed that CDPR was acutely aware of the performance issues plaguing console versions of the game.
CD Projekt Red Head of Studio Adam Badowski has disputed several points in Bloomberg's article. Regarding the game's performance issues, Badowski tweeted, "[W]e've owned up to that and are working super hard to eliminate bugs (on PC, too — we know that's not a perfect version either) and we are proud of Cyberpunk 2077 as a game and artistic vision."
As the lawsuits and customer unrest continues to pile up, it has become clear that the higher-ups at Cyberpunk 2077 intend to stand by the title. Just last week, the company released a video apology regarding the game's multitude of issues. In the video, CD Projekt co-founder Marcine Iwinski asked that the blame for the game's shortcomings be placed on him and the leaders of the company, rather than the teams that worked directly on the game.
The company also released a timeline of when customers can expect much-needed fixes to come to the game. CDPR intends to release free DLC for the game later this year, but it remains to be seen how the studio's legal issues may impact these plans.