(Bloomberg) — CD Projekt SA reported stronger-than-expected earnings for last year as Poland’s biggest computer-game studio managed to overcome the fallout from the botched release of its flagship Cyberpunk 2077 game.
Net income for 2021 fell 82% to 208.9 million zloty ($48.7 million), above the 202 million zloty in the Bloomberg survey of 20 analysts. Operating income dropped 80% to 232.9 million zloty, while sales declined 58% to 888.2 million zloty, compared with an estimate of 889.6 million zloty. The company reported record net income of 1.15 billion zloty in 2020 following the Cyberpunk release in December that year.
The 1.2 billion-zloty production turned out to be less successful than anticipated as clients complained about numerous glitches in the game. Since the release and the game’s suspension from the Sony Corp.’s PlayStation store, the company has managed to fix most of the issues and release a version for the next generation consoles earlier this year, which should boost sales.
However, as its next high-budget production — the upcoming Witcher game — is still at an early stage, the studio just hit another obstacle in its 2022 plans after it announced late on Wednesday it’s delaying the release of the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for next-gen consoles beyond the second quarter. The shares fell 1.7% on Thursday.
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