TheQuartering [12/18/2020]
To be honest, I am super proud of the employees for standing up for themselves here. Cyberpunk 2077 was rushed.
Following a so-so launch on PC, and a dismal launch on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 (leading to Sony delisting the game), employees at Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red reportedly asked some pointed questions during a video meeting with studio management this week.
According to Jason Schreier at Bloomberg, one staff member asked management why it said that Cyberpunk 2077 was complete in January when, according to that employee, it wasn’t. Another developer suggested that it was hypocritical to develop a game about corporate exploitation with the help of mandatory overtime.
When asked about crunch, the studio directors “said they had plans to improve production practices in the future but didn’t elaborate,” writes Schreier. His account of the meeting comes from two employees at the company. Beyond that, he says that several CD Projekt Red staff members, past and present, have said that the development deadlines were unrealistic throughout the project.