Cyberpunk writer CD Projekt inventory rises after saying new video games

Shares of Polish recreation writer CD Projekt rose sharply Wednesday after the corporate introduced a number of main video games it is engaged on within the subsequent few years, together with new installments in its fashionable Cyberpunk and Witcher franchises.

In a method replace late Tuesday, CD Projekt revealed a slew of latest titles at present in growth, together with a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 codenamed “Orion.” The sport “will take the Cyberpunk franchise additional and proceed harnessing the potential of this darkish future universe,” the agency stated.

Shares of CD Projekt had been up round 7% Wednesday afternoon, having earlier surged as a lot as 9% on the market open.

It comes after a sequence of mishaps which have plagued the corporate during the last two years. After a lot hype, Cyberpunk 2077’s launch in 2020 was met with rage from players who skilled bugs and poor efficiency on older consoles. The sport’s launch got here the identical 12 months that new machines from Sony and Microsoft had been being launched.

Backlash to the blunder was so fierce that at one level Sony eliminated the sport from its digital PlayStation Retailer. Cyberpunk 2077 was later reinstated on the service.

Since then, CD Projekt made a number of updates and enhancements to Cyberpunk 2077, whereas the discharge of an anime TV sequence based mostly on the futuristic sci-fi franchise, “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners,” has helped revive curiosity within the recreation.

CD Projekt says it has offered 20 million copies of its Cyberpunk 2077 recreation up to now, and over 65 million copies of all three video games in its Witcher franchise.

Final 12 months, the corporate suffered a ransomware assault that noticed hackers steal the supply code to a number of of its video games — together with The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 — and promote it on the darkish internet. Notably, CD Projekt on the time refused to pay the ransom demanded by hackers.

Regardless of a surge in CD Projekt’s share worth Wednesday, the inventory is down greater than 40% because the begin of the 12 months.

Right here had been another highlights from CD Projekt’s technique replace:

• The corporate proposed a stock-based incentive program for workers geared toward attracting — and retaining — high growth expertise. In response to Chief Monetary Officer Piotr Nielubowicz, this system shall be “just like these provided by our high world opponents.”
• It’s opening a brand new growth studio in Boston, Massachusetts, to assist broaden its footprint in North America.
• CD Projekt plans to purchase as much as 100 million Polish zlotys ($21 million) value of its personal inventory from traders in a share buyback plan.

The corporate additionally revealed its co-founder and joint-CEO Marcin Iwinski shall be stepping down after 28 years within the function. Iwinski will proceed on as joint-CEO till the top of 2022, after which he’ll turn into chairman of the supervisory board.

He’ll stay “a serious shareholder” and “lively and engaged” in supporting the board, in keeping with a press release Tuesday.

Three new video games within the Witcher role-playing recreation sequence are anticipated to launch within the coming years, together with a brand new installment within the franchise codenamed “Polaris.” Beforehand introduced by the corporate in March, the sport is a follow-up to the agency’s highly-acclaimed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. It’s at present in pre-production.

CD Projekt didn’t specify a timeline for when the brand new video games would come out however stated its three new unique Witcher titles would launch inside a six-year interval after Polaris’ launch.

The corporate plans to push into on-line multiplayer with a few of its future titles, together with one other recreation within the Witcher franchise codenamed “Sirius.”

“We’re planning so as to add multiplayer to a few of our future titles, and we’re planning on doing extra within the space of TV and movie,” stated Michal Nowakowski, CD Projekt’s senior vice chairman of enterprise growth.

CD Projekt’s multiplayer ambitions have lots of potential as a result of increased engagement in multiplayer,” Peter Garnry, head of fairness technique at Saxo Financial institution, wrote in a word Wednesday.

CD Projekt additionally introduced a very new recreation it’s engaged on past its important two franchises, codenamed Hadar. The agency didn’t give away a lot element however stated it “at present within the conceptual section.”

It was an uncommon show of transparency within the video games business. Large publishers typically stay tight-lipped about deliberate main releases up till they’re able to current some visuals and gameplay to followers, usually at giant commerce exhibits.

Firms like Sony and Nintendo have more and more eschewed showy business conferences just like the E3 expo in favor of smaller-scale updates. After being cancelled as soon as in 2020 after which changed with a digital different in 2021, E3 was once more scrapped this 12 months by organizers, who cited well being dangers surrounding Covid-19.