CD Projekt Red on issues with crunch
CD Projekt RED has made note of all the crunch culture stories uncovered at other large studios and is attempting to get in front of talks about its own crunch policies.
Speaking in an interview with Kotaku, CD Projekt RED co-founder Marcin Iwiński said the studio wants to take a more “humane” approach to late-stage development by leaning more heavily into a “non-obligatory crunch policy.” They aren’t attempting to eliminate crunch practices altogether, but claim they want employees and the public to hold them accountable so that Cyberpunk 2077’s final stretch (and months leading up to big milestones like E3) will be less soul-crushing than they were on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Unfortunately, following an early 2020 announcement that Cyberpunk 2077 would be delayed a few months, it seems that the CD Projekt RED team will be crunching to complete the cyberpunk RPG after all.
In a question-and-answer conference call, CD Projekt’s co-CEO Adam Kicińsk admitted that the development team will be required to put in longer hours as the game’s launch approaches. In it, he says “[they] try to limit crunch as much as possible, but it is the final stage. We try to be reasonable in this regard, but yes. Unfortunately [the team will be required to crunch].”
