CD Projekt chief financial officer Piotr Nielubowicz called 2023 the second best year in the company's history as the studio posted net profits of more than $120 million in its full year earnings. Nielubowicz credited the release of Phantom Liberty, which he says was purchased by around a quarter of Cyberpunk 2077 owners, as well as ongoing interest in The Witcher, for CD Projekt's success.
"[Phantom Liberty's success] resulted in strong sales," Nielubowicz said in a video statement as part of the earnings. "By the end of 2023 Phantom Liberty had been purchased over 5 million times."
— CD PROJEKT IR (@CDPROJEKTRED_IR) March 28, 2024
Nielubowicz called Phantom Liberty's sales "an excellent result," especially given that it's been more than three years since the release of the original Cyberpunk 2077. During the earnings, CD Projekt announced that Cyberpunk 2077 has earned more than 3 billion PLN (about $751 million) since its fraught release in 2020.
Despite the robust numbers, CD Projekt underwent a round of layoffs in summer 2023 that saw it reduce its workforce by around 9 percent, which the studio described as "an alignment of the scale and size of the team with the requirements of ongoing projects and the CD Projekt Group strategy." The layoffs led to the creation of the Polish Gamedev Workers Union, which was founded by gameplay QA analyst Pawel Myszka and programmer Lev Ki. Layoffs have remained an ongoing concern in the games industry, with Riot, EA, Sony, and numerous other publishers affected.
Looking ahead, CD Projekt is shifting more resources to The Witcher 4: Polaris as development continues apace. CD Projekt is also planning the next Cyberpunk game, codenamed Orion, as well as a live-action project set in the universe.
Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
