Daily Briefing: Friday 23rd April (Patreon)

CD Projekt Red refunded 30K copies of Cyberpunk 2077

The confusingly small number comes courtesy of CDPR CFO Piotr Nielubowicz, who told investors this week that the studio only refunded 30,000 of the 13.7m copies of Cyberpunk 2077 sold at launch. CDPR's "Help Me" refund scheme reportedly cost the studio around $2.17m.

• It should be noted that players were also able to get refunds from Sony and Microsoft, and these numbers aren't included in CDPR's total. Still, it's a strikingly small number of refunds for a game that was such a disaster at launch.

Early registration is open for The Witcher: Monster Slayer

In other CDPR news, Android players can now pre-register for the technical soft launch to The Witcher: Monster Slayer - the upcoming augmented reality mobile game that seeks to be a much bloodier Pokémon GO.

• Monster Slayer is set to release on iOS and Android devices later on this year, and tasks players with traveling the real world to battle enemies, brew potions, and craft items. Hopefully your phone will blare Witcher battle music,too, because that'd be neat.

Hades takes Game of the Year at the DICE Awards

Supergiant's acclaimed god-like rogue-like really cleaned up at the ceremony - bringing home a total of five awards across categories including game direction, game design, and action game of the year.

• Elsewhere in the awards, it was a really strong showing for Sony exclusives - with five games picking up nine awards between them. Ghost of Tsushima nabbed four awards; The Last of Us Part II picked up two; and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Dreams, and Final Fantasy VII Remake won one award apiece.

PlayStation team up with Firewalk Studios on exclusive new IP

Firewalk's new AAA multiplayer console exclusive will be the studio's first title since it was founded in 2018 by a group of Destiny/Bungie veterans. The team was put together to showcase "best-in-class" talent, and make the most of their experience on games like Mass Effect and Apex Legends.

• The new publishing partnership is the first of its kind since Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan announced that the company has been "quietly investing" in first-party software for some time now. What's next on the list?