(Reuters) -CD Projekt said that its mobile game “The Witcher: Monster Slayer” was now available to download after technical issues impacted its launch, in another glitch for the Polish company hit by the troubled release of “Cyberpunk 2077” game last year.
The Pokemon-style game, developed by CD Projekt’s Spokko studio, is based on the Witcher medieval fantasy series, where players hunt foul creatures in story-driven quests. It marks the group’s debut in augmented-reality technology.
CD Projekt told Reuters the technical problems that put the much anticipated launch of the mobile game in service mode earlier, were now resolved.
The free-to-play game has so far had over 100,000 installs on Google Play and has a 3.6 score out of 5 based on 3,094 reviews.
In the reviews section of the store’s listing for the game, users were mentioning connection difficulties.
With Monster Slayer, CD Projekt is stepping up its efforts in the mobile games market, which is the fastest-growing segment in gaming, boosted by demand during the pandemic when many other forms of entertainment were shut down.
Global consumer spending on mobile games rose 17.9% to $44.7 billion in the first half of 2021, according to analytics firm Sensor Tower.
CD Projekt is mostly known for its high-budget productions and has so far only dipped its toes into mobile games.
While analysts have said that the financial potential of Monster Slayer remains uncertain, it could be supportive to the Witcher and Cyberpunk franchises if it proves a hit.
Maciej Kietlinski from Noble Securities, who estimated the game’s revenue at several dozen million zlotys annually, said such problems can happen on the day of the release and if they are resolved quickly, they should not have an impact on the game in the long run.
“Nevertheless, in the case of CD Projekt and the Cyberpunk PR mishap, the share price in the shorter term may be highly sensitive to any technical problems related to the launch of the mobile game.”
CD Projekt’s shares turned negative and closed 1.7% down after rising as much as 3.5% in the day.
Cyberpunk, CD Projekt’s flagship game featuring Hollywood star Keanu Reeves, was pulled from the Sony PlayStation Store shortly after its debut last year as gamers complained about glitches. It retuned to the store last month.
(Reporting by Anna PruchnickaEditing by Keith Weir, Steve Orlofsky and Elaine Hardcastle)
