Cyberpunk 2077's class action lawsuit settlement has been approved
Investors will get damages
Cyberpunk 2077 launched in a sorry state, prompting rending of garments by gamers and a class action lawsuit from CD Projekt Red investors. That suit alleged that CDPR had "made materially false or misleading statements" regarding the game, particularly as related to the condition of its console release, and sought damages.
Now a proposed settlement has been approved by a federal judge in California's Central District. The settlement reached will see CDPR pay out $1.85 million USD (around £1.52m GBP), or roughly $0.49 per eligible share.
The lawsuit began as four separate actions brought by investors and shareholders, before being merged into one in May 2021. The lawyers behind the suit claimed that Cyberpunk 2077 was "virtually unplayable" on Xbox One and PlayStation 4, and that CDPR withheld that fact. This led to Cyberpunk 2077 being removed from sale on the PlayStation store, and caused damage to CDPR's reputation and share price.
The settlement was tentatively agreed and announced back in December 2021, pending court approval. That approval has now been given.
In order to be eligible for compensation, investors will need to have purchased CDPR stock between January 16th 2020 and December 17th 2020. The judge's ruling - which you can view as a PDF - outlines how elogible shareholders will be notified and sets several deadlines for wrapping up the case, with final approval to be given on June 1st, 2023.
In its years since release, Cyberpunk 2077 has been patched several times on all platforms, including PC. It has also received a second surge of players due to the popularity of the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime. Later this year, CDPR will release Cyberpunk's first major expansion, Phantom Liberty, which stars Idris Elba.