Polish developer CD Projekt RED – responsible for modern classic The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – is getting a bad rep. For instance, former staff members took to workplace review sites – such as Glassdoor – to rag on the company. Specifically, former employees attacked the company for its unreasonable crunch – i.e. overtime – hours.
However, CD Projekt RED hit back at criticisms on Twitter earlier today, defending its practices. In particular, the developer cites its desire to ‘reinvent the wheel’ with every new game as stressful for some. It concedes, though, that the approach does not agree with everyone. This defence, the company explains, is an attempt to dampen fears that development on the forthcoming Cyberpunk 2077 is in any way troubled.
— CD PROJEKT RED (@CDPROJEKTRED) October 16, 2017
CD Projekt RED – Reinventing the Wheel
In a tweet, CD Projekt RED explains that its development practices are “not for everyone,” but is “where the magic happens”:
“This approach to making games is not for everyone. It often requires a conscious effort to “reinvent the wheel” – even if you personally think it already works like a charm. But you know what? We believe reinventing that wheel every friggin’ time is what makes a better game. It’s what creates innovation and makes it possible for us to say we’ve worked really hard on something, and we think it’s worth your hard-earned cash. If you make games with a “close enough is good enough” attitude, you end up in a comfort zone. And you know where the magic happens.”
Cyberpunk 2077 Fears
Regarding Cyberpunk 2077, the company adds:
“Cyberpunk 2077 is progressing as planned, but we are taking our time – in this case, silence is the cost of making a great game.”
Cyberpunk 2077 is expected in 2019.
Many years ago a famous man, who owned a famous studio which made the best movies in the world, treated his employees in a surprising manner. The “important” people were well rewarded but the “little” people were treated like shit. They all worked long hours but the important ones were paid 20 times more than the others. Some workers were not happy with this but the famous man insisted he had the right to run his own studio as he saw fit.
One day the famous man gathered all 1,200 employees together and told them:
“In the 20 years I’ve spent in this business I’ve weathered many storms. It’s been far from easy sailing. It required a great deal of work, struggle, determination, competence, faith, and above all unselfishness. Some people think we have class distinction in the place. They wonder why some people get better seats in the theatre than others. They wonder why some men get spaces in the parking lot and others don’t. I have always felt, and always will feel that the men that contribute most to the organization should, out of respect alone, enjoy some privileges. My first recommendation to the lot of you is this; put your own house in order, you can’t accomplish a damn thing by sitting around and waiting to be told everything. If you’re not progressing as you should, instead of grumbling and growling, do something about it.”
A few months later, they did just that – hundreds of staff put down their tools and walked out. The Disney animators strike of 1941 effectively closed the studio down, and only ended when Walt capitulated and agreed to the strikers’ demands 5 weeks later
I don’t know what goes on at CD Projekt Red, I’ve never worked there. I’m not saying the same thing will happen to them as happened at the Burbank studio in 1941. But the games industry bears a lot of similarity to the big animation houses, and the public still seem to have the same attitude now as they did 76 years ago – nobody gives a rat’s arse as long as they get their shiny new toy at the end of the day.