Q3 2021 Earnings Call implications and impressions.

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Just like I did last time I've spent some time listening to the Q3 earnings call. With the news being lacking these webcasts provide a little bit of insight into what's going on with Cyberpunk even though these aren't aimed at us. And even if this earnings call confirms what we already know it's a least a conformation that work is proceeding as planned and we have nothing to worry about.

Starting off, CDPR is continuing the trend established in the last meeting with them transferring more people off of patching cyberpunk to the expansion (and other stuff). The interesting thing to note here is that they transferred fewer employees over than last time. Based on the meeting I got the impression that they are still working hard making the game good for next-gen consoles. This is inline with CDPR's statement that they aren't focused on patching anymore.

Despite that though, the next gen release is still on track for Q1 2022. I wouldn't have expected much else. They could push it all the way to the end of Q1 2021 which is still far away. They said that we'll get more news on that next year. So nothing for 2021 (kinda as expected).

They also noted the increase in positive reviews on steam and an increase in sales :)

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I've also listened to the webcast. The interesting part of that to us is the QA panel at the end. Most of this will be a bit paraphrased. I tried to focus as much on Cyberpunk as I could.

"The patch will release along with the next gen edition" (On the subject of Cyberpunk servicing costs)
Why did you skip patch 1.4?
They wanted to stress 1.5 is a big update. They confirmed in the second question they're releasing it as one big pack to "increase the impact".

"Can you confirm your current intention to release the Cyberpunk expansion in 2022?".
"It'll be ready when it's ready" of course! :ohstopit:

"Is the situation stabilised on PC (referring to increase in positivity) and can we assume for that that the game is still struggling on consoles?"
Although it's more visible on PC CDPR is also seeing improvement on every platform. It's nice to hear they're also having a better experience.

Is the new COVID wave gonna impact development any more?
They're staying flexible. So who knows.

Could you explain why CP2077 Next-Gen [...as well as the Witcher...] was delayed?
[On Cyberpunk] We are currently in the testing stage it is done. But we want to make sure that it's of a high quality. (This part of the webcast was REALLY difficult to hear, he mumbled a bit).
{again, Cyberpunk] We are testing, in a testing phase. There are improvements in general systems, which can interact with other systems.
Apart from the obvious increase in graphical quality they're also looking at improving "systems, so that there's no regression". Don't quite know what to take from that. But this confirms my expectation that they're really treating this as a second launch. They really stressed here they wanted it to be polished.

Will we get a new roadmap after the next-gen release?
The interesting take here is that they're gonna wait to see what happens with the next-gen edition before they do so. This could mean that if it releases well we could see follow up DLC. If it doesn't it might mean more patching.

Cyberpunk Multiplayer?
They're planning to add it to Cyberpunk. Also a second franchise will get it. They're planning on adding it "Step by step, gradually". Whether that was to the first game or Cyberpunk I didn't quite hear but it's nice to know they're not gonna drop a fully formed multiplayer on us in one go.


The sentiment of Cyberpunk is absolutely key to the future before we can announce anything about the future of Cyberpunk.
Do it right this time CDPR <3.

So, that was my summary. Some interesting things were said here, most of them obvious. It's nice to hear them confirmed at least. Any thoughts on this? have you listened to it yourself? Did I miss or misheard something? I'd love to know!

EDIT: Spelling and formatting.
 
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Thanks for the summary. TLDR, they're working on things and they will arrive when they're ready. Good.
 
Just like I did last time I've spent some time listening to the Q3 earnings call. With the news being lacking these webcasts provide a little bit of insight into what's going on with Cyberpunk even though these aren't aimed at us. And even if this earnings call confirms what we already know it's a least a conformation that work is proceeding as planned and we have nothing to worry about.

Starting off, CDPR is continuing the trend established in the last meeting with them transferring more people off of patching cyberpunk to the expansion (and other stuff). The interesting thing to note here is that they transferred fewer employees over than last time. Based on the meeting I got the impression that they are still working hard making the game good for next-gen consoles. This is inline with CDPR's statement that they aren't focused on patching anymore.

Despite that though, the next gen release is still on track for Q1 2022. I wouldn't have expected much else. They could push it all the way to the end of Q1 2021 which is still far away. They said that we'll get more news on that next year. So nothing for 2021 (kinda as expected).

They also noted the increase in positive reviews on steam and an increase in sales :)

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It is a big update which they wanted to stress. They confirmed in the second question they're releasing it as one big pack to "increase the impact". Also expected but good to hear it's confirmed.













Apart from the obvious increase in graphical quality they're also looking at improving "systems, so that there's no regression". Don't quite know what to take from that. But this confirms my expectation that they're really treating this as a second launch. They really stressed here they wanted it to be polished.


This is obvious. The interesting take here is that they're gonna wait to see what happens with the next-gen edition before they do so. This could mean a nice snowball effect if it's good, and more pushback of DLC if it's not.

I think it's worth noting that it'll also be a disc launch too, for those that don't have the game yet. Did they state if 1.5 will have any small free dlc?
 
I think it's worth noting that it'll also be a disc launch too, for those that don't have the game yet.
The on disc thing was to me a bit ambivalent as they talked about "having supply ready due to not running out of it". I assumed from that you're pretty much getting the same box with a sticker on it or something. But it's good to note, yes.

Did they state if 1.5 will have any small free dlc?

Nothing concrete. From the question about the roadmap I can guess that CDPR is really waiting to see how the next-gen edition is received before they start trickling out DLC, however small it may be. That's my best guess. Until then all we know it's just a big patch and a free upgrade.
 
I only listened to a part of Q&A at the end, so I'll now re-listen the entire thing and give you my own summary. Although from what I managed to hear, my baseless speculations without any merit had surprisingly high percentage of I was right. :D

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And... I can't do it because there is no VOD on youtube yet. xD
Stay put.
 
For me a bit worring was that they didnt want to confirm dlc for 2022 (which they kinda confirmed earier this year) which might look like it wont be released before Q4.
 
They still have enough time to talk to literally everybody but their customers.
I hope it's not their way of understanding improved communication.
 
First of all: everything they said in this call is a subject to change. Nothing is set in stone. They can tell you now that they "target" at something, and then after a while they can say "well, that was then, now it's different".

OK, so if I understand it correctly:

1. GOG is basically making no money. They are literally under with GOG. The most of the earnings comes from whatever Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 earns. Unless I understand it all wrong.
From what CDPR says, it's because GOG and Gwent are one entity, so if Gwent is not making any money but generates costs, those costs hurt GOG's numbers. So CDPR is moving Gwent team under CD Projekt RED. So GOG numbers look better. Still, if your online store is not making enough money to cover for a card game...

2. If I understand the corpo-speech correctly, the word "provisions" means "we have money to spend". And if I got it right, the money they made on Cyberpunk will let them carry on for another 4 years. The entirety of the company will ride on the money that Cyberpunk made so far for the next 4 years.

3. If I understand the corpo-speech correctly, the word "sentiment" means "how much the customers like us". And CDPR is aware of the fact that "the sentiment" is not in their favour right now. You can simp for the company all you want over here, but the general consensus seems to be "meh, buggy". Their priority right now is to make us believe that CDPR is our friend.

4. The price for the game will stay at the release level. 50% off was special offer. They are giving away Free Update. That doesn't mean that they will give you the game for free though.

5. Q3 seems to be traditionally the weakes part of the year in general, not only for CDPR but for the industry.

6. Sales of The Witcher 3 in 2021 were lower than in 2020, that's because of:
- they released TW3 on Switch, so obviously there was a new market for the game in 2020
- the pandemic helped in sales of TW3 a lot
- Netflix tv series expanded the potential audience for the game

7. Covid-- it's easier to work in the office than from home. But they are willing to keep the option for whoever wants to work from home.

8. Development of both Next-Gen versions of CP2077 and TW3 is "on track" to meet their target of Q1 2022 release.
- CP2077 is in the testing stage. They want to release something that is actually playable on release. They said something about "system level improvements". What the hell THAT means is... well, your guess is as good as mine. I hope it means "we are improving stuff that exists in the game but is basically broken". "Systems that are <<general to the game>>, it's not a revolution but they can interact with other systems of the game so we have to be sure that there is no regression whatsoever, and mostly for this we need some extra time for testing"
- TW3 is made by Saber Interactive and it's up to them to make the Next-Gen version. And as the technology and technical solutions evolved and changed, they need more time to implement these to such old game as TW3. So basically: it's not easy to add Ray Tracing to TW3 engine. Graphics will be better, but it's still TW3 engine.

9. What CDPR is looking for when it comes to growth: whole new studios full of talented people that CDPR could incorporate or closely cooperate with. I understand it as "they already have a structure, therefore they will be way easier to manage". It makes lots of sense to me, actually.

10. They are looking into new projects, but their philosophy is "those ideas absolutely have to end up being commercial products", so there is not all that much of messing around experimenting in CDPR. The freshly aquired studios had their own games and projects before, and they maintain certain degree of freedom, but they are not openly working on any of their own games. Everything that other studios are working on is related to CDPR games and projects. CDPR is looking for talented teams that would help CDPR develop their IPs and their ideas, not the other way around.

11. From what I understand the current strategy of CDPR is "we want to make big games, not go into lots of small projects" and they want to invest into big projects. Also they want to have large enough buffer of cash to be able to finance those big projects, instead of spending that buffer on RnD.

12. Employee turnover: CDPR sees nothing strange in leaking talent all the time. In their opinion it's a natural process that they can't keep talented people around.

13. On future strategies and plans of CDPR: the release of Next-Gen CP2077 is KEY (they stressed the word "key" a lot here) to their future. "Let's release the Next-Gen update, see how it does, and then let's discuss next year or years".

14. Physical copies of the game and how they want to release the Next-Gen version of the game: basically no comment right now, they are still figuring it out.

15. The roadmap for Cyberpunk in 2022: "let's release the Next-Gen version of Cyberpunk 2077 and see how it goes. Then we can talk about dates and what will happen next".

16. There is some sort of game that The Molasses Flood studio is working on, but it's too early to talk about it and trying to explain to gamers what it is about and explain what the concept of the game is. So it could be literally anything. No point of reference whatsoever.

17. "Why are you skipping patch 1.4, is it included in patch 1.5"-- "it's a big update, so we wanted to stress it with a round number". Basically what I funkin said when it was funkin anounced! It sounds better, it sounds like substantial update. It's marketing!
The fact that they are not updating the game frequently right now is just so they can make one big, impactful patch. It's all for the better effect of Next-Gen edition. "New and improved" so to speak.

18. "How far are you from reaching a new milestone with the number of copies sold?"-- they normally share sales data AS A MARKETING TOOL and therefore they were not planning to release such data today. Or any information about wheter or not they are close to reaching any sort of milestone.

19. "Where are you with Next-Gen progress for CP2077 and TW3?"-- all our development teams in-house and at Saber are telling us is "we are on track". Also CP2077 is in the phase of testing and improvement. They want to be extra sure-- more than ever sure-- that the game is well polished and all elements are working as intened. I especially like that part: the game is FINALLY being beta-tested instead of released on the basis of "what we have at the moment".

20. Cyberpunk 2077, online or multiplayer: the plans remain the same, they are planning to add including multiplayer functionalities for both franchises, including Cyberpunk. They don't know which franchise they will start with when it comes to multiplayer, but they know that it will be a gradual, step-by-step progression, not all-out multiplayer game or mode. Small things, learning curve, all that jazz. Don't expect a full game mode right away.

21. Implementing CP2077 into game-pass and subscription based services: they are open to any opportunities, but more like toward late states of game life. They have to consider what is more profitable. Maybe for TW3, but definitely it's too early for Cyberpunk 2077 right now.


And that's it. That's everything I got from this investors call.
 
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Yea sounds about right. Hopefully they will wow me with this next gen or patch but im not holding my breath. Im actually looking forward too witcher 3 next gen more... Hopefully it will work well and run well.
 
Just another thought in the subject: they said that they are "aiming" at first quarter of 2022. But we all know how good is the aim of CDPR nowadays. I wouldn't be surprised if both the patch and Next-Gen version of the game was pushed back into Q2 of 2022 or even further back if the game is still not ready to be released.

I will not demand from them any patches and/or any content anymore, as long as they are working on improving the game. I still haven't played past the prologue and I am willing to wait. I would be really glad if Patch 1.5 was really the last patch that is needed though. The game has to be fixed properly. No half-assed quick-fixes. Stuff that is broken-- repaired. Stuff that is out of wack-- tweaked. All the core elements of the open world-- properly developed. There has to be NO cutting corners with this re-release.
 
If the next big patch doesn't involve AI updates and PROPER content fixing the disappointment will be off the roof once again...
Bug fixes and a cosmetic overhaul won't be enough, I really hope CDPR is doing the right thing considering the huge amount of time they are taking.
 
Just another thought in the subject: they said that they are "aiming" at first quarter of 2022. But we all know how good is the aim of CDPR nowadays. I wouldn't be surprised if both the patch and Next-Gen version of the game was pushed back into Q2 of 2022 or even further back if the game is still not ready to be released.

They are in the testing and patching stage so at least the core work is done. But the 80/20 rule also exists. It's really all gonna depend on the NG what happens next. They did say we were gonna get more information on that next year. So here's to waiting until then.

All the core elements of the open world-- properly developed.
If that's the "system level improvements" I'd be very happy. I doubt they're gonna fix systems like that but I stand ready to be surprised. People who are expecting an overhaul of the AI or something will probably be disappointed. I remember that CDPR said before that they were "quite satisfied" with the state of the game. If you don't like the driving in the game now there's a huge chance 1.5 won't do much for you either.


A cosmetic overhaul and a lot of patching will put the game in a state where they can release sell us expansions. It seems that they're really focusing on getting back into our good graces so they can do that.
 
The "sentiment" around the game is not favourable to say the least. People are not happy about a lot of things. Bringing as much of it as possible up to standard and even exceeding expectations on some ground would definitely make people think better about the company.

Don't even start with "testing". I've heard it before. I've heard it throughout entire 2020 in fact. They were testing, the improvements were visible on a daily basis. And then, all of a sudden, there is no improvements on a daily basis after the release, and it's taking them a year and then some to just patch what they have? Not even mentioning any substantial expansions?

I am not concerned with what the game will look like on current gen consoles. I am only concerned about the game having no bugs and being improved throughout. I consider poor optimisation, poor textures streaming, graphical glitches and anything that doesn't work as intended as a "bug". The amount of those casued me to not wanting to play CP2077 at all. They said that they will fix the game. I am still waiting for them to do that.
 
Was wondering, did they state if next gen and 1.5 are separate updates or the same update, meaning everything is under 1.5?
 
Was wondering, did they state if next gen and 1.5 are separate updates or the same update, meaning everything is under 1.5?
I'm pretty sure that bugs and issues with the game relate to all the platforms. It's the same game after all. So Next-Gen update is basically the graphical update and patching work.

PC will get the same patches as the Next-Gen. The only difference will be with how the consoles display graphical effects like DLSS and Ray Tracing. But the game will be "fixed" to the same level everywhere. I can't see it any other way.
 
Just another thought in the subject: they said that they are "aiming" at first quarter of 2022. But we all know how good is the aim of CDPR nowadays. I wouldn't be surprised if both the patch and Next-Gen version of the game was pushed back into Q2 of 2022 or even further back if the game is still not ready to be released.

I will not demand from them any patches and/or any content anymore, as long as they are working on improving the game. I still haven't played past the prologue and I am willing to wait. I would be really glad if Patch 1.5 was really the last patch that is needed though. The game has to be fixed properly. No half-assed quick-fixes. Stuff that is broken-- repaired. Stuff that is out of wack-- tweaked. All the core elements of the open world-- properly developed. There has to be NO cutting corners with this re-release.
The one thing I always find myself wondering about is 'what does that mean for ..' (whoever said it)
Personally I see lots of more stuff I'd like to see added rather than it being something that needs fixing per se.

I'm glad they at least show to play the 'when its ready' card. Lets hope that will happen properly then this time around.
Also seem like the next update will be a while longer to wait for, but thats fine. I hope (which is allowed right :D ) i'll be dazzled when update 1,5 hits.
Will hit me snooze button for now news wise and resurface somewhere again.
In the meantime. Keep enjoying the game if you do.
 
Was wondering, did they state if next gen and 1.5 are separate updates or the same update, meaning everything is under 1.5?
They are seperate but of couse will be released at the same time. A bundle.

The reason for the separation is that some consoles (and PC to an extent) won't get the upgrades / have them already.

Basically, all platforms will probably get 1.5 but the next gen edition will be contained to PC and next gen consoles. That's the distinction they're making.
 
The one thing I always find myself wondering about is 'what does that mean for ..' (whoever said it)
Personally I see lots of more stuff I'd like to see added rather than it being something that needs fixing per se.

I'm glad they at least show to play the 'when its ready' card. Lets hope that will happen properly then this time around.
Also seem like the next update will be a while longer to wait for, but thats fine. I hope (which is allowed right :D ) i'll be dazzled when update 1,5 hits.
Will hit me snooze button for now news wise and resurface somewhere again.
In the meantime. Keep enjoying the game if you do.
I want to enjoy the game. And I know I will! There is way too many things in it to just give up on Cyberpunk. And the game CAN be fixed. It's just mechanical glitches. Issues within coding. I hate playing games that ruined their own potential. I played way too many of them already.
 
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