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CD Projekt Shares Slump After It Says ‘Witcher IV’ Won’t Come Out in 2026 

A bird flies in front of the CD Projekt logo at its headquarters in Warsaw, Poland January 21, 2020. Picture taken January 21, 2020. (Reuters) 
A bird flies in front of the CD Projekt logo at its headquarters in Warsaw, Poland January 21, 2020. Picture taken January 21, 2020. (Reuters) 
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CD Projekt Shares Slump After It Says ‘Witcher IV’ Won’t Come Out in 2026 

A bird flies in front of the CD Projekt logo at its headquarters in Warsaw, Poland January 21, 2020. Picture taken January 21, 2020. (Reuters) 
A bird flies in front of the CD Projekt logo at its headquarters in Warsaw, Poland January 21, 2020. Picture taken January 21, 2020. (Reuters) 

Shares of CD Projekt fell nearly 13% in early trading on Wednesday after the game developer said the premiere of "Witcher IV" was scheduled for after 2026, fueling fears of an even longer wait for the new instalment in the blockbuster series.

Analysts had previously said they expected the game to debut anywhere between 2026 and 2028.

"The Witcher IV", developed under code name Polaris, is the first instalment in a new trilogy expanding the universe of CD Projekt's blockbuster medieval fantasy franchise that has sold more than 75 million copies to date.

Finance chief Piotr Nielubowicz said the video game maker would not announce a precise launch date yet, but indicated the post-2026 timeframe "to give more visibility to investors".

The confirmation that the game will not be released before 2027 is "not a big surprise", analyst Grzegorz Balcerski from Trigon said in a note, adding the brokerage's previous forecast assumed a premiere in the second quarter of 2027.

Shifting expectations for the premiere beyond 2026 may also raise speculation that the game might debut even after 2027, considering postponements of new releases are common in the industry, Balcerski added.

"Lack of management confidence to commit to 2027 should also disappoint, even though we believe that the actuary assumptions used in the annual report suggest that this is currently the internal base case," JPMorgan analysts said in a note.

The stock was down 11% as of 0940 GMT, on track for its biggest one-day drop in two years and the worst performer on Europe's benchmark STOXX 600 index.

Up to Tuesday's close, it was up 20% since the beginning of 2025.

CD Projekt said in November that "Witcher IV" had entered full-scale production. The company's joint CEO Michal Nowakowski said at the time that it typically takes five to six years to develop a big ticket AAA game from the time early ideas are first discussed.

It had announced the works on the new "Witcher" saga back in March 2022.

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Samsung Says Trade Turmoil Raises Chip Business Volatilities, May Hit Phone Demand

A man walks past the logo of Samsung Electronics displayed outside the company's Seocho building in Seoul on April 30, 2025. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
A man walks past the logo of Samsung Electronics displayed outside the company's Seocho building in Seoul on April 30, 2025. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
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Samsung Says Trade Turmoil Raises Chip Business Volatilities, May Hit Phone Demand

A man walks past the logo of Samsung Electronics displayed outside the company's Seocho building in Seoul on April 30, 2025. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
A man walks past the logo of Samsung Electronics displayed outside the company's Seocho building in Seoul on April 30, 2025. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)

South Korean technology giant Samsung Electronics warned on Wednesday US tariffs could cut demand for products such as smartphones, making it difficult to predict future performance.
According to Reuters, Samsung said it expected its semiconductor business to encounter greater uncertainties throughout the year, while its smartphone shipments faced downward pressure in the second quarter.
The cautious outlook from one of the world's biggest electronics manufacturers reflects the uncertainties roiling global trade due to US President Donald Trump's tariff war, and comes a day after General Motors pulled its annual forecast.
The world's largest memory chipmaker reported a small rise in first-quarter operating profit as customers concerned about US tariffs rushed to purchase smartphones and commodity chips, mitigating the impact of its underperforming artificial intelligence chip business.
It reported 6.7 trillion won ($4.68 billion) in operating profit for the quarter ended in March, up 1.2% from a year earlier and in line with its earlier estimate.
Samsung shares, one of the worst-performing major tech stocks last year, fell 0.4% in line with the broader market.
Steep US tariffs on Chinese goods and toughening restrictions on AI chip sales to China, Samsung's top market, threaten to dampen demand for some of the electronics components the company produces such as chips and smartphone displays.
Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs, most of which have been suspended until July, threaten to hit dozens of countries including Vietnam and South Korea where Samsung produces smartphones and displays.
Samsung said it was considering relocating the production of TVs and home appliances in response to the tariffs.
Chip demand is expected to remain solid in the second quarter, driven by AI servers and preemptive purchasing activities after the pause in tariffs, Samsung said.
But it warned that the frontloading of chip shipments by some customers may have a negative impact on demand later this year.
“We believe that demand uncertainties are growing in the second half as a result of recent changes in tariff policies in major countries, and strengthening of AI chip export controls,” Kim Jae-june, a Samsung vice president in the memory division, said on an earnings call.
Samsung CFO Park Soon-cheol said however that "we cautiously expect the overall performance to gradually improve as we move into the second half, assuming the easing of current uncertainties".
Some analysts were unconvinced, saying the company did not give detailed guidance for its struggling AI chip business.
"With pull-in demand still ongoing and macro uncertainty lingering, the explanation for the 'first-half low, second-half rebound' outlook was lacking," Ryu Young-ho, a senior analyst at NH Investment & Securities said.
AI CHIPS
Samsung's mobile device and network business reported a 23% rise in profit to 4.3 trillion won during the period, reaching its highest level in four years, helped by the latest version of the flagship Galaxy S model with AI features.
Samsung has accelerated smartphone production in Vietnam, India and South Korea ahead of the US duties, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier.
While mobile performed strongly, the chip division's operating profit slumped 42% to 1.1 trillion won from a year earlier despite chip stockpiling by some customers.
Samsung reported a fall in sales of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) - used in AI processors - due in part to US export controls on AI chips.
Samsung said it had supplied samples of its enhanced HBM3E products to major customers and expected HBM sales, which have bottomed out in the first quarter, to "gradually" rise from the second quarter, without offering detailed targets.
Analysts estimate that about one third of Samsung's HBM revenue has come from China, and it lags behind cross-town rival SK Hynix in supplying such chips to Nvidia in the United States.
SK Hynix last week logged its second-highest quarterly operating profit in the first quarter with a 158% jump to 7.4 trillion won, boosted by strong AI-related demand.
Revenue rose 10% to 79.1 trillion won in the January-to-March period, in line with its earlier estimate of 79 trillion won.