Without any particular outing but marked by the kick-off of the marketing campaign of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty and development costs, the first half of 2023 is quite logically down with revenue of 72.8 million euros (against 84.6 million euros) and net profit of 20.4 million euros (compared to 25.4 million euros). Remember, however, that The Witcher 3 passed the exceptional milestone of 50 million copies sold last May.
A rebound is naturally expected in the second half thanks to the launch of Phantom Libertythe extension of Cyberpunk 2077 which, according to CD Projekt, has a very satisfactory pre-order rate. The release of this expansion will take place on September 26 in a positive context for Cyberpunk 2077 which now has more than 80% positive ratings on Steam. As of July 31, 2023, most of CD Projekt’s workforce (300 people) was still busy finishing Phantom Liberty. However, the team in charge of the next The Witcher (code name Polaris) continued to grow and had nearly 260 people at the end of July.
A figure that will increase further rapidly once Phantom Liberty will be finished, a good part of the extension team being already intended to join the construction site Polaris. And for good reason, CD Projekt has confirmed that Phantom Liberty will indeed be the only extension of Cyberpunk 2077, however successful it may be. According to the management of the studio, it is above all a technological decision, the goal being to do away with the in-house development tool RED Engine and to switch to Unreal Engine 5 for all future internal productions. Phantom Liberty will therefore be the last work of CD Projekt developed with the RED Engine.