Cyberpunk 2077 developer says it was the victim of a cyberattack

Cyberpunk 2077
(Image credit: KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images)

Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 developer CD Projekt Red has been hit by a cyberattack.

The Polish video game developer announced Tuesday that an "unidentified actor gained unauthorized access to our internal network," collecting data and leaving a ransom note. "To our best knowledge," the internal systems that were compromised didn't contain players' personal data, it said.

"We will not give in to the demands nor negotiate with the actor, being aware that this may eventually lead to the release of the compromised data," CD Projekt said. "We are taking necessary steps to mitigate the consequences of such a release, in particular by approaching any parties that may be affected due to the breach."

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The attack comes after CD Projekt came under fire in December over the launch of its highly-anticipated game Cyberpunk 2077, which was riddled with glitches on consoles to the point that it was pulled from PlayStation's online store and refunds were offered. The developer apologized over the launch, vowing to fix the issues and telling players it "should have paid more attention to making it play better on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One." According to CNBC, CD Projekt shares fell 4.5 percent on Tuesday following the cyberattack news and are down over 30 percent since the launch of Cyberpunk 2077.

CD Projekt Red also shared the ransom note it received, which warns that "if we will not come to an agreement, then your source codes will be sold or leaked online and your documents will be sent to our contacts in gaming journalism," and "investors will lose trust in your company and the stock will dive even lower." The developer says it has approached law enforcement.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.