CD Projekt Red Faces Possible Class-Action Lawsuit Over 'Misrepresentation'

News
By Keith Mitchell
published

One investor is considering filing a lawsuit due to 'Misrepresentation.'

Cyberpunk 2077 Screenshot
(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

Among the numerous issues surrounding CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077, the Poland developer faces another challenge. The company could soon be facing a class-action lawsuit that accuses the developer of "misrepresentation in order to receive financial benefits."

As reported by The New York Times, Warsaw attorney and CD Projekt Red investor Mikołaj Orzechowski has brought forward a motion to accuse the company of pulling the wool over  investor's eyes.

"My name is Mikołaj Orzechowski, I am a Warsaw attorney and at the same time a CDPR investor. 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 bringing a class action together with the notification of the possibility of committing a crime under Art. 286 of the Penal Code. - misrepresentation in order to obtain financial benefits"  states Mikołaj Orzechowski.

He mentions contacting him if any other investors are eager to move forward with this. So at the moment, it would seem that only one person is looking to pursue this, that doesn't mean that others may not join the cause. That said, if this goes forward, it remains to be seen how this would affect CD Projekt Red.

But Orzechowski isn't the only one going after the company. There are at least three others, as shared by a Yahoo Finance and Business Wire press release. These include  New York firm Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP, the Los Angeles-based Schall Law Firm, and the investor rights law firm Rosen Law. All are urging any investors who've lost money to contact them. 

This idea of a lawsuit comes after several companies, including Microsoft, Sony, Best Buy, Gamestop, and even CD Projekt Red changed their refund policies to accommodate the game's frustrated owners. These refunds may reversed the previous announcement that Cyberpunk 2077 made up all its investment costs on its release.

Following the release of Cyberpunk 2077, the game has been under fire thanks to the abysmal performance on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions, the vast number of glitches that have plagued all version of the game, and more recently, the "bug" that can cause corruption on PC game saves. 

Keith Mitchell
Keith Mitchell

Keith Mitchell is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He is an IT professional during the day, and a passionate lover of video games and tech after his 9-5 grind. He has a weird affinity for Soulsborne games and plays them non-stop.

18 Comments Comment from the forums
  • bluepancake288
    Ah, yes, the vultures are out. Meanwhile, Tom's continues to make ridiculous statements about the game, at least in my experience if 60+ hrs of gameplay.
    "The vast number of bugs that have plagued all versions of the game. " Playing on PC, I've only had 2 minor bugs that were easily gotten around by loading an autosave. This is far better than most games I've played shortly after release. And the "glitch" that corrupts saves will never be seen by 99+ percent, since most players will never craft 10s of thousands of items in order to reproduce it.
    Speaking only for myself, I'm hugely impressed with the game.
    Reply
  • mac_angel
    seriously? All these other storage companies, swapping out hardware with slower performing ones and not changing the naming, or even letting it known very well, and no one takes them to court. A game doesn't look as pretty as what people were hoping for and that's a class action suit? WTF is wrong with these people? Are they really that naive to think that any newly released game is going to look great on hardware that's a few years old?

    I haven't played Cyberpunk2077. I want to. I've been waiting for it for years now, just like everyone else. Their first teaser video that came out something like 7 years ago still gives me goosebumps. But, I'm also smart in my own planning and that I have never, ever seen a game get released that does not have bugs. I never buy pre-releases, or games on release day, no matter how much I want to play it. I'll wait until they have some time to work out the kinks, just like every game developer has to do. There are way, WAY to many variations in PC hardware for them to be able to release a perfect product.
    Reply
  • deesider
    mac_angel said:
    seriously? All these other storage companies, swapping out hardware with slower performing ones and not changing the naming, or even letting it known very well, and no one takes them to court. A game doesn't look as pretty as what people were hoping for and that's a class action suit? WTF is wrong with these people? Are they really that naive to think that any newly released game is going to look great on hardware that's a few years old?
    In this case the suggested lawsuit isn't by purchasers of the game (who really have no cause, since they can get a refund) but investors in the CDPR company.

    This is commonplace in Australia in particular; whenever a company makes a loss a bunch of shareholders will claim it's due to malfeasance or they should have been warned etc, and make a claim against the company. The resultant payout is of course yet another loss for the company, paid for by the other shareholders.

    - CDPR however, is still going to make a massive profit, even if not as massive as some may have hoped.

    Only the lawyers ever really win.
    Reply
  • Blacksad999
    I feel this sets a bad precedent. If putting out a buggy game results in a class action lawsuit, Bethesda will cease to exist. lol Seriously though, it's a slippery slope. So, if a bunch of people watched an anticipated movie and hated it, can they sue? How about music or books?
    Reply
  • samopa
    Blacksad999 said:
    I feel this sets a bad precedent. If putting out a buggy game results in a class action lawsuit, Bethesda will cease to exist. lol Seriously though, it's a slippery slope. So, if a bunch of people watched an anticipated movie and hated it, can they sue? How about music or books?

    It is not about buggy product but it is about misrepresentation in order to obtain financial benefits.
    How come you've asked ... Look at sequence of events below

    1. After Cyberpunk2077 released, CDPR announce that Cyberpunk 2077 made up all its investment costs on its release.

    2. As result of this investment most (maybe all) of their investor hold their shares, hoping the value will increased because of this "good" news.

    3. After sometimes some customers complain because this game has its bugs, and media blow this case up.

    4. This cause some companies, even CD Projekt Red changed their refund policies to accommodate the game's frustrated owners. These refunds may reversed the previous announcement that Cyberpunk 2077 made up all its investment costs on its release.

    5. Some investors see that, in foreseeable future, will make shares value plummet and make them loose money.

    6. Hence the class action suit, because the investor felt that CDPR do misrepresentation their finacial conditionin order to obtain financial benefits
    Reply
  • HarbingerDawn
    bluepancake288 said:
    Ah, yes, the vultures are out. Meanwhile, Tom's continues to make ridiculous statements about the game, at least in my experience if 60+ hrs of gameplay.
    "The vast number of bugs that have plagued all versions of the game. " Playing on PC, I've only had 2 minor bugs that were easily gotten around by loading an autosave. This is far better than most games I've played shortly after release. And the "glitch" that corrupts saves will never be seen by 99+ percent, since most players will never craft 10s of thousands of items in order to reproduce it.
    Speaking only for myself, I'm hugely impressed with the game.
    Made an account just to respond to this incredible comment.

    By now, you've no doubt seen some of the thousands of videos and images showing bugs in the game. They exist, and are extremely widespread. This is a documented fact. You personally having only encountered a couple of them is irrelevant, because more people than you are playing the game. Saying that there are a "vast number of bugs that have plagued all versions of the game" is not a "ridiculous statement". It is a fact. Now, that doesn't mean that the game can't be enjoyable; anyone who's played a Bethesda game knows that, and I've really enjoyed my 23 hours in Cyberpunk so far. That does not mean the bugs don't exist, and it doesn't mean that other people are not affected by them. To imply that your own experience being good invalidates the poor experiences of others is ridiculous.

    Cyberpunk 2077 is laden with bugs and issues, especially on the console versions (which combined make up the bulk of the market). CDPR's leadership consistently mislead people - including investors - about the state of the game. If you mislead someone, and they give you money because of it, and it blows up in your face, that is reasonable grounds for a lawsuit.

    tl;dr, it is possible for you to love a game and have a good experience with it and for it to be a bug-laden mess that its developer mislead people about and which is unplayable for the bulk of its customers.
    Reply
  • gg83
    Why didn't this happen with Anthem? I was a sucker a bought it release day. A $60 game that was literal trash and EA even abandoned it.
    Reply
  • MorganPike
    gg83 said:
    Why didn't this happen with Anthem? I was a sucker a bought it release day. A $60 game that was literal trash and EA even abandoned it.

    Maybe it has to do with the fact that EA is all about bleeding every cent it can from it's customers and it has a lot of products that do that. This is the main reason it has such a bad rep with some gamers. But with investors, who care nothing about the products or the customers and care only for the money being made, well, I'm guessing they're right on board with the EA business model.

    Then along comes CDPR trying to do the right thing by their customers and maintain a good rep they've worked hard to cultivate. I'm guessing this is pissing investors right off and they want to nip this behavior in the bud. Hard. The reality is it's what CDPR gets for being traded, it's all about the money, money, money and investors are going to make sure CDPR learns that lesson well.

    The CDPR we know and love is dead. It's time we accept that fact and move on.
    Reply
  • MorganPike
    HarbingerDawn said:
    unplayable for the bulk of its customers.

    I have no idea if that claim is true. And neither do you.

    Game playability is very subjective. I am sure their are many who consider it unplayable, while their are also many who consider it playable. What those percentages are is not known so don't try to act like it is.
    Reply
  • dalek1234
    Class Action lawsuits are a scam.

    I was part of one long ago. I owned Nortel stock back in the day when they cooked their books. I lost about 1,700 dollars as a result. I joined a class action lawsuit against Nortel, hoping to get most of my losses back. The lawsuit was won, Nortel had to pay the losses back to the investors. I received my compensation in form of a cheque for 8 dollars and about 12 Nortel stocks worth pennies at the time (and to this day). The rest of the money awarded me went to pay the Lawyers. My understanding is that this is what always happens. Lawyers charge exuberant fees and keep most of the money for themselves. Everybody else gets a joke of an amount. People join these lawsuits hoping that a wrong against them can be put right, but they only get scammed for the second time.
    Reply