Investors in CD Projekt Red are reportedly mulling legal action over the entire row over the release of Cyberpunk 2077, citing deceitful practices by the publisher.
As reported by the New York Times via VGC, Warsaw-based CD Projekt Red investor and attorney Mikolaj Orzechowski has announced that he is looking into grounds for a Class-Action Lawsuit against the Polish developers, even posting on to Polish forum Bankier looking for others who might be interested in the lawsuit.
“In connection with the recent events – and in particular the suspension of the sale of the CYBERPUNK 2077 product, we are currently analyzing, together with the law firm’s team, the grounds for filing a class action with the submission of a notification of the possibility of committing a crime under Art. 286 of the Penal Code. – misrepresentation in order to obtain financial benefits”, the translated forum post reads.
This claim is being echoed by a second legal firm, this time based in New York. Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP said they would be looking into filing a Securities Claim against the company, on behalf of its shareholders.
According to them, CD Projekt Red had intentionally misled the shareholders about Cyberpunk 2077. It should be noted that a Securities Claim is essentially investors wanting their money back, alleging violation of the Securities Act 1933.
For those who don’t speak legalese, it’s simple. Investors gave money to CD Projekt Red to make Cyberpunk 2077, with the promise of receiving some of the profits back. Ordinarily, a game underperforming isn’t grounds for legal action, though.
With the whole chain of events surrounding Cyberpunk 2077’s release, from its seizures, poor console ports and subsequent delisting from the Playstation Store, these lawsuits are alleging that the company was being actively deceitful- i.e, that they knew the game was broken and had issues but released it anyways.