Polish competition watchdog investigating Cyberpunk 2077
CD Projekt Red could be fined up to 10% of its annual income
Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red is being investigated by Poland's Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK).
The news was initially reported by Polish business newspaper Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, with UOKiK's spokesperson Małgorzata Cieloch saying that the organisation approached CD Projekt Red to understand the issues with the game and what actions had been taken to fix them.
"We will check how the manufacturer is working on the introduction of amendments or solution to difficulties preventing the game [to work] on different consoles, but also how it intends to act in relation to the persons who filed complaints and are dissatisfied with [their] purchase due to the inability to play games on owned equipment despite previous assurances [that it would]," they continued (translation via Google Translate).
Once UOKiK has discussed the situation with CD Projekt Red, it will make a decision on the next steps of the investigation, DGP said.
The newspaper also provided an analysis from Dominik Jędrzejko, an attorney from law firm Kaszubiak Jędrzejko Adwokaci, who explained that despite CD Projekt Red's best efforts to fix the issues with Cyberpunk 2077, this might not be enough to prevent it from being accused of "unfair market practice."
Should UOKiK find that CD Projekt Red has indeed been misleading in the run up to the disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077 and has not made enough effort to fix the problems now that it is out, the organisation could fine the studio up to 10% of its annual income and/or impose refunds.
Cyberpunk 2077 launched in December, and has been widely criticised for its bugs on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game was delisted from the PS Store a week after launch, while Microsoft offered full refunds to those who purchased the game on its store. Other retailers offered similar refund options.
CD Projekt Red is also facing a class-action lawsuit claiming that the studio lied to investors about the state of the game on PS4 and Xbox One.