Cyberpunk 2077 has now sold more than 20 million copies

Cyberpunk 2077 Johnny sings
(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

CD Projekt's cyberenaissance continue today with word from the studio that Cyberpunk 2077 has now sold more than 20 million copies.

"Over 20 million cyberpunks have been roaming the streets of Night City—partying with Jackie and getting to know Johnny, driving around with Panam and diving with Judy, hanging out with River and listening to Kerry’s songs," CD Projekt tweeted. "Thank you and we hope to see you all in the Afterlife!"

Afterlife, by the way, is a nightclub in Cyberpunk 2077 that caters primarily to mercs and muscle.

Selling 20 million copies is a remarkable achievement that puts the game in some very impressive company, including CD Projekt's previous game, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, although it's still a far cry from the true behemoths like Minecraft (238 million), Grand Theft Auto 5 (170 million), or PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (75 million). Even more impressive is how quickly it accomplished the feat. It took Stardew Valley six years to sell 20 million copies, for instance, while The Witcher 3 took four years; Cyberpunk 2077 pulled it off in less than two.

CD Projekt's official investor relations account, which is normally a straitlaced source of financial and regulatory information for investors, analysts, and other business types, was having some fun with the big number too.

Cyberpunk's sales were certainly front-loaded: more than half were rung up within a few weeks of its December 2020 release, thanks to a hugely successful pre-launch campaign that pulled in roughly eight million preorders—enough to make the game a bonafide hit before it was even released. Even so, more than six million sales over the subsequent year-and-a-half is nothing to sneeze at, especially given the game's well-publicized problems and complete absence from the PlayStation Store for much of that time.

Rather than taking the loss and walking away after the car-crash release, CD Projekt has continued to work on Cyberpunk 2077, pushing back plans for new content and expansions in order to focus on fixes and performance improvements. Those efforts are undoubtedly paying off, but the game also got a big bump from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, the anime that debuted on Netflix earlier this month. It convinced Wes to give the game another shot (or at least think about it) and plenty of others felt the same way. The average and peak concurrent player counts on Steam skyrocketed, and it bounced back into the middle of Steam's top 10 games by player count, too—a hell of a comeback by any measure.

TOPICS
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Read more
Stalker 2
It launched upside down and on fire, but busted and brilliant Stalker 2 has attracted 6 million players to the Zone in the last 3 months
Nier: Automata 2B
Unlikely hit Nier: Automata has now sold over 9 million copies
Hans with his hands in the air
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 sells more than 1 million copies in just 1 day
Monster Hunter: World
Monster Hunter: World continues to fly off the shelves as anticipation for Wilds reaches critical mass
Monster Hunter Wilds
Monster Hunter Wilds claws past Dota 2 and Lost Ark to be Steam's 5th most-played game ever, with a nearly 1.4 million peak player count
Dry Devil holds a torch and grins.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has almost hit 2 million sales, a 'reminder' to parent company Embracer 'to bring great products to the market'
Latest in RPG
Atelier Yumia screenshot
Help, I can't move forward in this chill crafting RPG because I'm too wrapped up in building bases and making sick tools
Avowed Kai holding out his hand toward camera while explaining something to the player.
Avowed's new patch just gave you 6 more talent points to muck around with, along with a heap of fixes and improvements
Olivia, a hunter from Monster Hunter Wilds, looks perplexed in an icy blue environment.
Monster Hunter Wilds players wonder if frenzied monsters are a little undercooked, as one slaps a sickly bird into a fine paste in just 25 seconds
Sans, from the hit 2015 RPG undertale, folds his arms in a dashing suit as stonks rise in the background.
You can grab Undertale for less than $1, as the genre-defining indie RPG beats its all-time player peak for the first time in 10 years
KOTOR remake returns for annual tradition of reminding you it's still alive, but no you can't hear anything more about it until it comes back next year to say it again
Alligator skull with glowing eyes on human body and cords coming out sitting at piano with "The Norwood Etudes" ready to play
My new most anticipated RPG let me be a kleptomaniac gourmand set loose in a noir city on a quest to make 'the perfect sandwich'
Latest in News
Three sheep with big guns in Palworld.
It was 'super popular to hate Palworld' after launch, says community manager: 'A lot of companies might crumble under the threats, under the pressure'
Palworld Ancient Civilization Parts - Grizzbolt with a minigun
'It was a very depressing day': Palworld community manager reveals studio's reaction to Nintendo lawsuit
CS 1.6 remade in CS: Legacy.
A gorgeous ground-up remake of Counter-Strike 1.6 is on its way to Steam, and one of the game's original creators says 'it really gives me old vibes'
Portal P3 pinball table
There's a new Portal game and it costs $12,500
MrBeast posing in front of a stack of cashing, promoting Beast Games season 2
Beast Games opens casting for season 2: MrBeast lost a ton of money on season 1 but apparently not enough that he won't do it again
Ark: Lost Colony teaser still.
Ark 2 is still on: The next Ark expansion 'leads into the events of Ark 2,' says Studio Wildcard