Cyberpunk 2077‘s tough 2020 just got more difficult thanks to Sony. The makers of PlayStation announced on Thursday night that it would be pulling the highly-anticipated game from its online stores and offering full refunds several days after the game’s developer made the same offer.
In a statement, Sony stressed that not only will they now give refunds, it will not sell the game to any customers through its online store “until further notice.”
SIE strives to ensure a high level of customer satisfaction, therefore we will begin to offer a full refund for all gamers who have purchased Cyberpunk 2077 via PlayStation Store. SIE will also be removing Cyberpunk 2077 from PlayStation Store until further notice.
Once we have confirmed that you purchased Cyberpunk 2077 via PlayStation Store, we will begin processing your refund. Please note that completion of the refund may vary based on your payment method and financial institution.
The decision to pull the game from the store is complicated, but as Patrick Klepek explained, it has to do with Sony’s refund policy.
Sony did not want to offer refunds, because the game wasn’t “faulty.” It was still on the store. In order to allow refunds, the game then needed to be “faulty,” but a “faulty” game can’t continue to be sold. And so here we are.
— Patrick Klepek (@patrickklepek) December 18, 2020
CD Projekt Red announced Monday that it would be offering refunds to anyone who bought the game and was unsatisfied. The game, available on multiple consoles and PC, could be purchased through a number of different digital and retail stores. CD Projekt Red, for example, owns GOG.com and could easily facilitate those. But several customers struggled to get refunds directly from Sony, which cited forthcoming bug fixes and patches on the way from CD Projekt Red in the coming weeks and months that would likely fix problems customers were having.
Sony won’t refund my Cyberpunk 2077 order, even after the game’s developer said buyers experiencing problems could get refunds. The game literally crashes my PS4 and is unplayable. Sony’s answer? Wait for the updates. pic.twitter.com/Zx2LSRhqqN
— Steve Kovach (@stevekovach) December 16, 2020
In Monday’s announcement about refunds, CD Projekt Red apologized in particular for the game’s performance on last-gen consoles like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the former of which had countless gamers complaining the title crashed and rendered it essentially unplayable. And though the game seems to perform with more stability on the next-gen Sony console, as of Thursday night, it seems it’s also unavailable for PS5 gamers, too.
It’s unclear how long the game will be unavailable in the Sony store, and anyone who already has a copy or a physical disc of the game will be able to endure it on the PlayStation 4 and 5, but it’s a massive blow for a game that’s had one of the roughest launches in 2020 to say the least.