Sony offers refunds on the buggy Cyberpunk 2077, pulls it from the PlayStation store
In a move that’s functionally unprecedented in the world of digital video game publishing, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced today that it’ll be issuing full refunds for CD Projekt Red’s just-released, bug-ridden Cyberpunk 2077—and removing the game from its PlayStation Store “until further notice.” Indeed, a quick check confirms that Cyberpunk is no longer available digitally on Sony platforms; you can still use a physical disc copy, obviously, and already-purchased versions will stay on your hard drive. But no new digital purchases can be made.
This is, to put it lightly wild, and a reflection of how much focus has been put on the extremely rough state that Cyberpunk, the follow-up to CDPR’s highly celebrated The Witcher 3, shipped in last week. The game arrived after several delays and absolutely loaded with bugs—which, anecdotally, were at their worst on the original PlayStation 4. (From what we’ve heard, the PS4 Pro had an easier time with the game, while our own playthrough on the PlayStation 5—which won’t have an official version of the game for some time—was beset by almost hourly crashes.)
CDPR started talking refunds earlier this week, along with an announcement from the company’s management that bonuses for Cyberpunk would no longer be attached to the game’s review scores. That refund announcement turned into something of a logistical nightmare, though, since many of those purchasing the game are doing so through digital storefronts like the PlayStation store or Steam, which would then have to process the actual refund requests. Sony appears to have shrugged and said “Fuck it, we’ll honor them”—but they also seem to be washing their hands of the whole buggy mess, at least for now. No word yet on whether the other major retailers distributing the game—i.e., Steam for PCs, or Microsoft’s storefronts for the Xbox One and Series X/S—are likely to follow suit.
You can read our early thoughts on Cyberpunk 2077 here, and check out streams of our playing the game—including capturing one of those PS5 hard crashes—on The A.V. Club Twitch channel.