Consumer Rights Bureau Look At Cyberpunk 2077

I knew, as soon as we were back from our little break at the end of December, I’d be back to this hellscape. Once again, Cyberpunk 2077 has crawled out of its little cage, where it was being poked by Hitler and Lassie with fire stokers. As unsurprising as it might be, the news isn’t the good kind. A month on from CD Projekt RED’s release of the very cyber and not very punk video game that had been clamored for by fans for years, the studio is being investigated by local authorities on consumer protections.

This is not a shocking revelation in the Cyberpunk 2077 story, but one which we need to cross either way. This was so expected, in fact, that I sought the opinion of a lawyer on the case myself. Admittedly said lawyer is a friend, but they saw no reason why this case wasn’t in courts already. In fact, the lawsuit was indeed just pushed through by New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia-based law firm Rosen Law Firm back on December 24th. CD Projekt RED acknowledged the lawsuit stating that the suit “does not specify the quantity of damages sought.” Going on to say it will “undertake vigorous action to defend itself against any such claims.“

Now, according to Polish legal newspaper Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, via Gamesindustry.biz, the studio is being investigated by the country’s office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKIK). In a translated statement via Gamesindustry.biz (which they used Google Translate for), the agency has claimed to Dziennik Gazeta Prawna that they are looking at how CD Projekt RED is handling the situation, amending the game on consoles, and how it intends to ratify complaints by those who have stated their dissatisfaction with the product on their owned console. It is not entirely clear what would be satisfactory for the agency to rule in favor of CD Projekt RED. However, if the studio is found to have “misled” customers of their purchase on their owned platform, the studio will receive a hefty penalty.

UOKIK has yet to discuss the situation with the developer/publisher. However, once this step is taken, there will be a better understanding of what comes next. If the agency finds the studio can’t satisfy their demands, the studio could face up to 10% of its income from the last financial year in the year in which the sanction is imposed. Currently, they are waiting for CD Projekt RED’s response.

While I can speak for an informal conversation I had with one lawyer on the US options, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna spoke with Dominik Jędrzejko, attorney at Kaszubiak Jędrzejko Adwokaci, for their analysis on the situation. When the paper asked Jędrzejko, they said that CD Projekt RED’s work on fixing the issues the game has had since launch might not be enough to stop them from being accused of “unfair market practice.” One would assume this is referencing the overwhelming proportion of marketing and discourse around the game’s existence alone Vs. competitors. One can’t deny the conversation not only before but after has been dominated by the game and the studio.

Since its launch back in December, the game has entirely been pulled from the PlayStation Store as refunds are issued. This was followed by Microsoft issuing full refunds, though it is still on the store. Moreover, further storefronts are also accepting such refunds. However, I do not get a refund for all the time I have spent writing about this one game that launched in a state that can only be described as broken.