Why it matters: CD Projekt has released a financial overview of the previous year, and despite launching in 2015, the Wither 3 helped the company to record profits. The statement also confirmed that Cyberpunk 2077 remains on track to release this September.
Even before the Netflix series arrived, the Witcher 3 was already proving more popular in 2019 than the previous year. Henry Cavill's portrayal of Geralt triggered a spike in the game's usage, and by the end of the year, it had more Steam players than at launch. In February, we learned that the epic RPG had made over $50 million on Steam, giving CD Projekt Red a larger cut of sales.
The Witcher 3 was mostly responsible for CD Projekt's excellent year, which saw sales revenue up 44 percent YoY to 521 million PLN ($125 million) and consolidated net profit increase 60 percent to 175 million PLN ($41 million). Digital storefront GOG, which CD Projekt owns, saw a record 162 million PLN ($39 million) revenue in 2019, all of which has made CD Projekt Europe's second most valuable game company behind Ubisoft.
"Both with regard to sales and the Group's net result, the fourth quarter of 2019 was the best final period of the year in our history. We are extremely pleased with the unceasing popularity of The Witcher 3, especially given the fact that the game will be celebrating its 5th anniversary in just a couple of weeks," said CD Projekt vice president and CFO Piotr Nielubowicz. "We continue to reach new fans: in October The Witcher 3 appeared on Nintendo Switch, while Gwent was released on iOS devices. Strong sales of The Witcher and its debut on new hardware platforms contributed to our net earnings and the Group's net profitability, which increased to 34 percent in the past year."
CD Projekt Red is one of many companies to have implemented a work-at-home policy, which in some cases has resulted in delays for several products. The firm last month addressed concerns that the disruption would see Cyberpunk 2077 postponed for a second time, missing its September release, but it assured fans that the game was still on track, and it echoed that statement in its latest release.
"There is no shortage of motivation and we also possess all the tools needed to facilitate remote work. We've been operating in this mode for over three weeks and to-date results confirm that we can carry on with all our operations without major disruptions," said CD Projekt Group president and CEO Adam Kiciński. "Our plans haven't changed---we're steaming towards the September release of Cyberpunk."
If you're a big Cyberpunk 2077 fan, why not enter this PC case modding competition that asks entrants to design a chassis based on the game. The winner gets an Alienware PC containing a Cyberpunk 2077-branded RTX 2080 Ti, which are selling on eBay for over $4,250.