CD Projekt Red co-CEO Michał Nowakowski thinks the studio has but to finish a “full redemption arc” after the “heartbreaking” launch of Cyberpunk 2077, however he is hoping it may well win again some followers with The Witcher 4.
Nowakowski mirrored on the Poland-based recreation developer’s journey throughout a current dialog with Edge (by way of GamesRadar). The interview noticed him open up about how “heartbreaking” the launch of Cyberpunk 2077 was for the workforce – and for followers.
“I am not 100 per cent satisfied we went by means of the total redemption arc,” Nowakowski mentioned. “I am satisfied that we misplaced the religion of some individuals indefinitely, and that is a good factor.”
(*4*)
It has been practically six years since Cyberpunk 2077 undid a lot of the goodwill CD Projekt Red had accrued following the discharge of its 2015 hit, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Years of pleasure for the futuristic dystopian RPG rapidly fizzled out after launch-day gamers have been met with an extended listing of game-breaking bugs, annoying visible glitches, and frequent crashes.
These points have been particularly prevalent on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and though early gross sales managed to see CD Projekt Red rapidly recoup its improvement and advertising and marketing prices, the firm’s fame had clearly taken an enormous hit in just a few days.
Now, Cyberpunk 2077 is in a lot, a lot better form, and it has managed to promote not less than 35 million copies. Nonetheless, Nowakowski feels there’s work to be carried out in the case of how followers see CD Projekt Red, however he is hoping video games like The Witcher 4 will assist win them again.
“However I do hope we will make it again – if not with The Witcher 4, then with no matter comes subsequent,” he mentioned.
(*4*)
Nowakowski continued, explaining how CD Projekt Red modified within the aftermath of the launch of Cyberpunk 2077: “We have been left with seasoned, battle-hardened veterans; leaders who have been capable of carry a special type of problem on their shoulders.”
“Our dream is to be making extra video games, though we by no means need to flip into the studio that is going to be launching an enormous recreation yearly,” he added. “It might occur, however this isn’t the objective. We’ve a tough 10-year rolling plan, however the objective is to not flood the video games market with CDPR video games. We simply need to make actually cool video games, and we do not need to have a ton of IPs both. We’re not planning to develop in that method.”
Though improvement on Cyberpunk 2077 has largely concluded and The Witcher 4 has no launch date, CD Projekt Red is not leaving followers with nothing to play. A shock enlargement for The Witcher 3 known as Songs of the Previous, for instance, is predicted to launch in 2027. In the meantime, the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel generally known as Cyberpunk 2 additionally entered pre-production final yr, and a Witcher remake can be in improvement.
Michael Cripe is a contract author with IGN. He is finest identified for his work at websites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Remember to give him a observe on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).