By Adrianna Ebert
GDANSK (Reuters) - Polish games developer CD Projekt is not for sale, its CEO reiterated on Monday, following weekend rumours that the maker of "Cyberpunk 2077" could be targeted by Sony (NYSE:SONY).
"Nothing has changed on our end. I can repeat what we've been saying throughout the years - CD Projekt is not for sale. We want to remain independent", Adam Kicinski said on a conference call following first-quarter results.
"It's very exciting to follow our own path, so it's pure rumour", he added, referring to the speculation on Twitter and in a trade newsletter.
CD Projekt, which has previously been rumoured to be a target for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), reported a 1% year-on-year rise in quarterly net profit, as it gears up to release an expansion to action role-playing game "Cyberpunk 2077".
The company behind "The Witcher" series said its net profit rose to 69.7 million zlotys ($16.8 million), despite a 19% year-on-year drop in revenues to 174.8 million zlotys.
After two years without a major new release, CD Projekt is due to present "Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty" in Los Angeles on June 8 during the Summer Game Fest: Play Days.
"We are also planning a range of other events around the world, and will have more information to share in the coming weeks", Kicinski said.
"Phantom Liberty" is the last game produced on company's own RED engine, with CD Projekt switching to the external Unreal Engine 5 for upcoming projects, which include among others a new Witcher trilogy, a remake of Witcher 1 and a Cyberpunk sequel.
CD Projekt has sold over 20 million copies of Cyberpunk 2077 so far. It also said that it had sold more than 50 million copies of "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt" so far, with the entire Witcher trilogy's sales now exceeding 75 million copies.
($1 = 4.1422 zlotys)