CD Projekt Red is being held to ransom over stolen Cyberpunk 2077 design documents

"We will not be giving in to the demands," says The Witcher 3 developer.

Polish video game studio CD Projekt Red has released a statement revealing that design documents pertaining to upcoming sci-fi RPG Cyberpunk 2077 have been stolen from them and those currently in possession of them are holding the developer to ransom.

In a statement shared on Twitter, CD Projekt Red says that the materials relate to early designs for the long-awaited title, and are "largely unrepresentative of the current vision for the game".

"An unidentified individual or individuals have just informed us they are in possession of a few internal files belonging to CD Projekt Red," the statement says.

"A demand for ransom has been made, saying that should we not comply, the files will be released to the general public. We will not be giving in to the demands of the individual or individuals that have contacted us."

The studio says that it has contacted the authorities and have urged fans to avoid any leaks that may occur as a result of the incident.

"The documents are old and largely unrepresentative of the current vision for the game," it says. "Still, if you're looking forward to playing Cyberpunk 2077, it would be best for you to avoid any information not coming directly from CD Projekt Red.

"When the time is right, you will hear about Cyberpunk 2077 from us - officially."

Cyberpunk 2077 was first announced in 2012, but took a back seat at the site as development focused on the enormously popular The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which launched in 2015. Since then, attention has turned to the science fiction title.

Very little has been seen from the game, which is based on popular real-life role-playing Cyberpunk 2020, but CD Projekt has revealed it will be an open world game similar to its epic fantasy series The Witcher.