There's stiff competition for the greatest gaming comeback stories, but Cyberpunk 2077 will always be part of the conversation. CD Projekt Red was coming off the back of the outstanding Witcher 3, had all the time and money in the world, and the dream setting: Hell, it even had Keanu Reeves. Anticipation and expectation were sky-high.
Then it launched. It was a bit of a disaster and PC players actually got off relatively lightly: The game launched in such a state on PlayStation that Sony took the unprecedented step of removing it from sale entirely (if temporarily).
This was back in 2020. Since then CDPR devs have spoken about how "PCG's Ted Litchfield described this as "a thrilling capstone for Cyberpunk 2077's 3-year redemption arc."
Sales were never exactly a problem for Cyberpunk 2077, with the game making back its development budget on the first day, but in this case virtue has been its own reward for CDPR. The studio has just announced that Cyberpunk 2077, as of today, has sold over 30 million copies, and Phantom Liberty has sold an additional eight million.
These are the kinds of numbers that put Cyberpunk 2077 in some exclusive company, and nudging the all-time top 20 in of sales. It's still a way off the Witcher 3, which at the last official tally had sold north of 50 million, but over time who knows?
CDPR certainly doesn't have trouble keeping the lights on, anyway. The studio's latest financial call offered some brief updates on the future slate, including that entering full production:
"I'm pleased to announce that several weeks ago [Polaris] moved to full-scale production," CD Projekt chief financial officer Piotr Nielubowicz said. "Of all our projects, this one is currently the most far along, and we're starting the most intensive phase of development. I wish to thank the team for its effort and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for further progress."
