(Reuters) -Polish video games maker CD Projekt reported lower first-half net profit but beat expectations on Wednesday, helped by sales of Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Cyberpunk 2077, featuring Hollywood star Keanu Reeves, was one of last year’s most anticipated games, but after a bug-ridden start it was kept off Sony’s PlayStation Store for six months, returning in June.
CD Projekt did not give an update on how many units of Cyberpunk it sold in the first half of 2021. Despite its troubled release, the game sold 13.7 million copies last year.
But it said it plans to release next generation versions of Cyberpunk and The Witcher 3 late this year.
The company said net profit was 105 million zlotys ($27.61 million), which was down 28% compared to last year but above the 71 million expected by analysts. []
CD Projekt has been working on fixing the game since its launch and released seven updates this year. Its selling costs rose to 131.2 million from 72.1 million zlotys a year before.
“A large part of the dev team continues to work on Cyberpunk updates, with the associated expenditures reported as current-period costs – this explains our lower-than-usual net profitability,” chief financial officer Piotr Nielubowicz said.
CD Projekt’s revenues rose by 29% to 470.6 million zlotys.
($1 = 3.8024 zlotys)
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka in Gdansk;Editing by Mark Potter and Alexander Smith)
