Cyberpunk 2077 Launch Issues Reportedly Cost Founders $1 Billion In Wealth

The technical issues surrounding the launch of Cyberpunk 2077 have had an impact on CD Projekt Red's stock value, and that in turn is reportedly hitting its founders' net worth. Bloomberg reports that the company's founders have cut the value of their joint stake by $1 billion in only a matter of days.

The joint 34% stake in the Polish company is co-owned by three executives--Marcin Iwinski, Adam Kicinski, and Piotr Nielubowicz--along with a fourth owner, Michal Kicinski. Those four have become the among the wealthiest Poles in recent years as anticipation grew for Cyberpunk. But as the stock has been dropping, so has their wealth. Their stake was reportedly worth about $3 billion on Tuesday.

Perhaps more importantly, analysts say this launch has cost the studio significant credibility. Average analyst forecasts for 12-month sales dropped from 30 million copies before the release to 25.6 million copies now.

The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions appear to be one major cause of the stock and forecast drops. Those platforms are popular and widespread, and they're also significantly buggier and less graphically impressive than the PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X versions. Players seeking to avoid those versions, or holding out until they opt-in to the new generation, mean a smaller pool of potential consumers.

CD Projekt Red had issued an apology for the performance on last-gen systems, and recommended players who are dissatisfied seek refunds. But it also acknowledged that it had no special agreement for such refunds, and recently stopped recommending them on PlayStation.