According to Polish media, CD Projekt Red may face a significant fine: The Ministry of Consumer Protection in Poland is investigating complaints from purchasers of Cyberpunk 2077. A possible maximum penalty of 10% of annual revenue is on the table. Buyers of Cyberpunk 2077 on PS4 and Xbox One are at a disadvantage.
Where does the fine come from? The Polish Ministry of Consumer Protection and Competition (UOKiK) has focused on CD Projekt Red. A spokesperson for the office, Malgorzata Cieloch, stated:
„We went to entrepreneurs to clarify the problem with the game and their measures regarding it. We will check if the manufacturers are working on fixes and solutions for problems preventing the game from being played on various consoles. But we will also investigate whether the entrepreneurs are responding to complaints from people who are dissatisfied with their purchase because the game does not run on some platforms, despite previous assurances from the manufacturer that it would run well.”
Spokesperson of the Polish Ministry of Consumer Protection
How high can the fine be? If the Polish Ministry of Consumer Protection concludes that CD Projekt Red engaged in unfair competition, they could impose a fine of up to 10% of annual revenue. This would be a significant fine.
Polish lawyer predicted problems
This is what an expert says: Polish media quotes lawyer Dominik Jędrzejko regarding the case. He previously addressed the allegations against CD Projekt Red in a blog post on December 19. He stated at that time: the biggest problem for CD Projekt Red will not be class actions from investors, but actually the Ministry of Consumer Protection, which represents the rights of ordinary purchasers.
For the lawyer, the key point is whether a publisher’s statements about a product before release match reality.
The lawyer accuses CD Projekt Red of having misled consumers regarding the playability of Cyberpunk 2077 on “last-gen consoles” PS4 and Xbox One. Representatives of CD Projekt Red assured that Cyberpunk 2077 runs “very well” on PS4 and Xbox One. Many players trusted these statements and purchased the game in good faith. However, it turned out that these statements were objectively false.
It does not matter whether the statements were made out of carelessness or intention.
“Closed system” on PS4, Xbox One
Indeed, the lawyer believes that the statements from CD Projekt Red particularly misled “ordinary buyers.” They rely on the developers’ statements and make their purchasing decisions in good faith. This includes not only gamers but also people who might have purchased Cyberpunk 2077 as a gift.
Because consoles are closed systems, with no option to upgrade, the case is particularly pronounced. Even the “average informed player assumes that a game will function adequately on their closed console system.”
Specifically, the lawyer is concerned about “an action that results in the average customer making a contractual decision they would not have made under other circumstances”: As the lawyer concludes, many players would not have purchased Cyberpunk 2077 for PS4 and Xbox One if they had seen how poorly the game runs on those platforms beforehand.
Therefore, he considers a penalty from the Ministry of Consumer Protection to be the “biggest threat” to the company. He regrets that the Polish publisher is experiencing such an image disaster. However, the media storm could just be the beginning of the actual problems.
According to the lawyer, the case shows: “Digital products cannot be completely decoupled from reality, and one cannot lie about the facts of a product.”
The interesting thing is that the Polish lawyer had already anticipated the arguments of the class action lawsuits from the investors weeks before a US law firm filed them. According to the legal expert, this is not about a “media storm,” but about actual issues that could cost CD Projekt Red a lot of money:
Class action lawsuit against Cyberpunk 2077: “Practically unplayable on PS4 and Xbox One”
