(Bloomberg) — CD Projekt SA tumbled after it delayed the next-generation updates of its key games, showing that the Polish studio’s ability to deliver titles on schedule remains challenged despite its operational revamp.
After a disastrous rollout of its Cyberpunk 2077 game nearly a year ago, the studio optimized its workflow and pledged to hire more developers. Late on Wednesday, however, it said that the enhanced versions of Cyberpunk as well as The Witcher 3 will come in the first and second quarters of 2022, respectively, not this year as earlier planned.
CD Projekt shares dropped 9.1% to a seven-week low, extending this year’s sell off to 35%.
“Apologies for the extended wait, but we want to make it right,” the company said on Twitter, using similar wording to earlier statements informing about Cyberpunk delays.
CD Projekt has faced turmoil since the December 2020 release of Cyberpunk 2077, which was widely panned for a number of glitches and other issues. That prompted Sony Group Corp to the remove highly awaited title from PlayStation store. The company was also the victim of a massive hack that disrupted work and led to the leak of employees’ personal information.
JP Morgan Chase & Co. analyst Alexei Gogolev cut CD Projekt’s rating to neutral from overweight, slashing his target price to 236 zloty from 330 zloty, citing delays as the major reason for the move. Credit Suisse Group AG analyst Matthew Walker trimmed his target price to 125 zloty from 135 zloty.
Ipopema Securities SA analyst Michal Wojciechowski said the studio will miss the lucrative Christmas season for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X games. The delay also deals a blow for additional interest in Witcher from a fresh season of a Netflix series of the same name due out on Dec. 17.
(Updates with share price, analyst comments from the third paragraph.)
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