It's been a messy month or two for Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red as the studio both works to implement fixes in the controversial game while also taking point on a massive refund campaign for those unsatisfied with the game's rocky launch.
While digital game stores baked into Xbox and PlayStation consoles have their own refund policies in place for Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt took point on refunding physical versions of the game through a Help Me Refund program shortly after the game's launch last month.
As with other elements of Cyberpunk 2077 's catastrophic launch, it is a largely unprecedented move for a studio to work directly with its customers to offer refunds for physical games purchased through different sources. CD Projekt is slowing figuring out how to navigate those uncharted waters, no doubt out of a desire to rebuild some of the goodwill it lost with its audience over Cyberpunk 2077's state at launch.
A story from Vice, now further backed up by an email shared over Twitter by Vice's Patrick Klepek, notes that folks who bought the game physically have begun to receive refunds direct from CD Projekt Red and, for the time being, have been able to keep possession of their physical Cyberpunk 2077 copies while doing so.
In that email shared by Klepek, CD Projekt Red now requests that players that have requested or received a refund for their copies continue to hold on to their game discs while some of the complexities of the return process are ironed out.
"Regarding your game discs, we ask that you keep hold on to them for now. We recognize that arranging disc returns is not a particularly convenient process, and are currently looking for the least disruptive solution in order to wrap up this part of the process," reads that email. "We'll provide you with further instructions in advance later down the line."
Cyberpunk 2077 launched back in December and was quickly found by players to be, at best, unstable on consoles and not the game they'd been advertised. At worst, and particularly on older hardware from the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One generation, Cyberpunk 2077 was unplayable for many due to crashes and persistent performance issues. The long list of problems prompted PlayStation to inact a special refund policy for Cyberpunk 2077, and to remove the game from digital sale until further notice.
CD Projekt Red, meanwhile, is moving down the path to a more stable Cyberpunk 2077. The company released an updated road map earlier in the month that promised two major patches in early 2021 and a slew of other fixes and new content to come as the year continues on. So far, the first of those updates has officially launched, but as of yet the game has yet to reappear on PlayStation's storefront.