CD Projekt Red has been having a good few weeks since the arrival of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners on Netflix. The anime tied into their once-maligned title Cyberpunk 2077 and gave it a major win that the title, and company, desperately needed. As players know, the newest title from CD Projekt Red was hyped up for years as a next-gen RPG that would change the world and redefine elements of the RPG genre. Yet when it came out, it was a mess, which might make it surprising that the game has officially crossed 20 million units sold in its lifetime.
The reveal came from CD Projekt Red on Twitter as they thanked all the Cyberpunks who have visited Night City and got to know its characters. For context, 20 million is a far cry from the 18 million the game had back in April. A 2 million unit jump is nothing to scoff at, especially when the game came out nearly two years ago.
So why did the anime give it such a boost? First off, it was awesome. Fans and critics alike can’t stop praising it. Hideo Kojima even admitted that he was a fan of the anime, and that’s high praise. Second, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was not only high quality and made by an epic team, but it arguably showed the true potential of what Night City was. The people, the tech they used, and the chaos of all the groups vying for power–it was wonderful to watch. The only crime it had was being over before we could get more.
Due to this, players went back to Cyberpunk 2077, and for some, it was the first time dying into Night City and what it had to offer. The Steam numbers alone since the anime’s arrival have been impressive, even beating the best numbers that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt had at its peak in terms of concurrent players. It was the No.1 best-selling title on Steam one week when the anime came out, further showing how one had an impact on the other.
While it is fine to praise CD Projekt Red for its accomplishment, 20 million sold is a misnomer. Don’t forget that when the game had its buggy launch a lot of people asked for refunds and were granted them. Places like the PlayStation Store even shut down selling digital copies until things were better. It took six months to get to that point.
Even with these issues, the fact remains that people are diving back into Cyberpunk 2077. Thanks to the efforts of the dev team the game is in a state that makes it fun to play, and these sales numbers are likely to keep going up.
Source: Twitter