While Cyberpunk 2077 is currently the subject of a controversy regarding the game’s shockingly bad performance on old-generation hardware such as PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, which led to extended refund policies from platforms holders like Microsoft and Sony, it’s worth reminding that the game had garnered over eight million pre-orders ahead of launch, with just digital sales pushing the game into profitability according to CD PROJEKT RED.
A new report issued by Niko Partners, the research firm focused on delivering market intelligence on the gaming industry across Asian countries, suggests that Cyberpunk 2077 had a great start in China, too, despite the fact that the game doesn’t even have an official ISBN license to be sold there. Of course, there are plenty of unofficial channels to get it from, and that includes Valve’s Steam platform where Cyberpunk 2077 was the top seller for the Chinese market on its release week.
Niko Partners’ own China Games Streaming Tracker service registered more than 7,500 Chinese users streaming Cyberpunk 2077 on its Day One, through streaming platforms such as Bilibili, Huya, and DouYu. It is estimated that over 19 million Chinese fans watched the game’s streams on December 10th, boosting it into second place on Niko’s own popularity Index. Additionally, Cyberpunk 2077 trended on the huge social media website Weibo on that day, where plenty of memes of taking the day off in order to play were on display. Even the fellow Chinese game developers at PeroPero Games (known for the hit rhythm title Muse Dash) admitted they gave the day off to their employees in order to play Cyberpunk 2077.
Of course, this early success owes much to CD PROJEKT RED’s decision to invest a lot in the localization of Cyberpunk 2077 for Chinese gamers despite not having an official license to sell the game yet. Four professional recording studios have been involved in the process, with around 150 voice actors working to translate over a hundred thousand voiced lines over the course of ten thousand man-hours.
It is unclear whether Cyberpunk 2077 will get an official license or not from the Chinese government at some point, but it looks like the game is already a success in China even without that.
