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Sony removes Poland’s Cyberpunk 2077 video game from PlayStation, CD Projekt shares tumble down

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Sony has removed Cyberpunk 2077 from its PlayStation Store following complaints of glitches in the video game created by Poland’s CD Projekt.

The game that claims to be an “open-world, action-adventure story set in a megalopolis obsessed with power, glamour and body modification” and it features Hollywood star Keanu Reeves. Sony’s knee-jerk move has hit the CD Projekt, Poland’s top video game maker, with its shares tumbling down from last week’s high by 12.2% on Friday.

Sony, however, said the suspension was temporary without giving any reason. The game Cyberpunk lets gamers play as mercenary outlaw “V” when people were stuck at home during the pandemic. Since the coronavirus crisis is around, the demand for the game has boosted.

Aware of bugs

CD Projekt CEO Adam Kicinski admitted the existence of bugs as there had been fewer external testers, who could not test it from home due to COVID-19. CD Projekt has promised to work on bugs and release patches in January and February. It means the game is not ready to debut in December and the decision to launch without proper tests for bugs was a big mistake, said market analysts.

“The game needed another six months of development to fix bugs and polish it,” John Vilnis, a gamer from Brisbane, Australia said.

CD Projekt, which gained prominence with its ‘The Witcher’ series to become one of Poland’s biggest listed companies, was expected to break sales records with Cyberpunk. So far, there is no move from Google’s Stadia and Microsoft about the removal of the game from their consoles or platforms.

The launch of Cyberpunk amid the pandemic, when other big players Microsoft’s ‘Halo Infinite’ have delayed their launch is significant. Microsoft is considering full refunds to those who bought the game from the Microsoft Store.

 

2.24 lakh Companies deleted from list by Corporate Ministry

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Based on the massive drive undertaken by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Government of India, around 2.24 lakh companies have been struck-off till date for remaining inactive for a period of two (2) years or more.

Following the action of striking-off defaulting companies, restrictions have been imposed on operation of their bank accounts in accordance with the law. Further, Preliminary Enquiry on the basis of information received from 56 banks in respect of 35,000 companies involving 58,000 accounts has revealed that an amount of over Rs. 17,000 crore was deposited and withdrawn post demonetization. In one case, a company which had a negative Opening Balance on 8th November, 2016, deposited and withdrew Rs.2,484 crore post-demonetization.

Apart from the restrictions on bank accounts, action has also been taken to restrict sale and transfer of moveable and immoveable properties of struck-off companies until they are restored. The State Governments have been advised to take necessary action in this regard by disallowing registration of such transactions.

One company was found to have as many as 2,134 accounts. The information with respect to such companies have been shared with enforcement authorities, including Central Board of Direct Taxes(CBDT), Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Department of Financial Services (DFS) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) etc., for further necessary action. Companies have also been identified for inquiry/inspection/investigation under the Companies Act, 2013 and necessary action is underway.

The Prime Minister’s Office has constituted a Special Task Force (STF) under the Joint Chairmanship of Revenue Secretary and Secretary, Corporate Affairs, to oversee the drive against such defaulting companies with the help of various enforcement agencies. The Special Task Force has so far met five (5) times and action has been initiated against several defaulting companies, which is expected to help in the drive against black money.

Separately, action has also been taken to disqualify Directors on the Board of Companies that have failed to file Financial Statements and/or Annual Returns for a continuous period of three (3) financial years during 2013-14 to 2015-16. Around 3.09 lakh Directors have been affected by this action. Preliminary enquiry has shown that over 3,000 disqualified Directors are Directors in more than 20 companies each, which is beyond the limit prescribed under the Law.

Further, in the light of the evidence with respect to abuse of the Corporate Structure through multi-layering, not more than two (2) layers are now permitted beyond the wholly owned subsidiary. This is in addition to the existing restriction which prohibits a company to make investment through more than two layers of investment companies.

In order to address the criminality angle, the Director, Additional Director or Assistant Director of SFIO have been recently authorized to arrest any person believed to be guilty of any fraud punishable under the Act. Under Section 447 of the Act, which defines fraud, stringent punishment including imprisonment up to 10 years is stipulated. Further, reference has been made to the Ministry of Finance to include it as a Scheduled Offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Action is also being initiated against Professionals guilty of fraud and all complaints against them are being reviewed. A High Level Committee (HLC) has been constituted for suggesting revamp of the disciplinary systems of Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries and Cost Accountants. Further, steps are underway for setting-up National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA), an independent body, to test check Financial Statements, prescribe Accounting Standards and take disciplinary action against errant professionals.

With a view to checking the problem of Dummy Directors, action is underway to seed DIN with PAN and Aadhaar at the stage of DIN application through biometric matching for new applications. The same may be extended to legacy data in due course.

Finally, a separate initiative is underway to develop a State-of-the-Art software application to put in place an ‘Early Warning System’ (EWS), which will be housed in SFIO. The objective is to strengthen the Regulatory Mechanism.