Cyberpunk 2077
Image: CD Projekt Red

It's safe to say that, besides from Mario Kart World, CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition was the game of the Switch 2's launch in 2025.

That probably sounds strange considering it's a port of a title that infamously had a disastrous start on other platforms, but by the time it released on Nintendo's new console, it has been improved significantly and was widely considered one of the most impressive open-world games available.

So it's no surprise that it sold well, but according to CEO Michał Nowakowski in an interview with The Game Business, CD Projekt Red was "very happy" with Cyberpunk's commercial performance on Switch 2. Because its launch aligned with the console's, the team didn't know what to expect, but it was apparently the best-selling third-party game "for a while", even surpassing some of Nintendo's first-party offerings.

“We were the best-selling third-party game on Switch 2 for a while, I think, when we launched. In fact, we were overselling quite a few Nintendo games – their own games – with the exception of course Mario Kart.

"I think that was a success on its own. We were very happy by the way, with the sales numbers on the platform. Made money on it, broke even. We’re in the positive. It is a peculiar platform because it’s, you know, it was at its launch moment, so the install base was not as huge, so we never expected numbers of, I don’t know, Steam or something like that.

"But we did very well. And actually the game continues to sell. We’re happy. And the most important bit is that the players are happy. I believe Nintendo was very happy as well. Everything we heard from them was praised. They were also very impressed with how the game performed on the hardware – the special features of Cyberpunk on Switch 2 and so on, so wait and see for The Witcher now.

"This was a bit of a test for us because this was literally the first time ever for us to be on the platform at launch, so we kind of didn’t know what to expect. But we liked the hardware so much and the pitch that Nintendo had overall for the whole ecosystem that we decided to give it a shot. And I think it paid off. We’re happy.”

We're happy that the game seems to be doing well for CD Projekt Red, and it's clear from overall reception that the team successfully managed to reverse its fortunes after such a poor launch back in 2020. We gave it a score of 9/10 in our review, stating "Its deep, diverse, and tangible world is fully realised with impressive performance for such a low-powered device".

Did you pick up Cyberpunk on the Switch 2? What do you make of it? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

[source thegamebusiness.com]