CD Projekt has announced that from 2022, the development teams in the company will be working on two triple-A games in parallel. After focusing all its efforts on just one project at a time, the development studio is upscaling its teams, creating transferable tech, and acquiring another studio so it can work on fleshing out both The Witcher series and Cyberpunk too.
In a Strategy Update presentation reported on by IGN, the development studio announced that in the future, some things are going to change at CD Projekt. Namely that the development efforts will be split into two to dedicate time to its two main franchises. At the heart of this plan is the RED engine - the engine that they use to power CDPR's RPGs.
The RED engine will be designed to adapt to both games - so NPCs and character control, among other features, will be designed for both a Witcher game and a Cyberpunk game so the teams can focus on where the franchises differ. Then there will be 'cross-functional teams' that work on each project. Above them will be cross-project experts that will work between these teams, offering support and advice to either game when needed.
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If rebuilding CDPR into RED 2.0 works out as the team is planning - the full scale, parallel triple-A production should come into place in 2022.
The developer also revealed its long term mission - some more nebulous goals that it wants to achieve when making games in the future. First, CD Projekt wants to "create revolutionary story-driven RPGs, which go straight to the hearts of gamers from around the world". Secondly it wants to "be counted among the world's top three video game developers". And lastly, it wants to "ensure a lasting place for [their] brand in the global popular culture". These things are all harder to define than any sort of financial or more tangible goals, but they're there for the developers to aim towards rather than actually find a way of evaluating.
The core values of CDP were also discussed, which might be essential going forward. These are "Quality as our top priority" "Passionate team as our greatest strength" "Tolerance, fairness, and openness at our heart" "Independence", and a "Gamer-centric approach". The first of those five values seem to be something the company knows they need to improve on as the messy launch of Cyberpunk 2077 is mentioned and how it didn't meet its quality standards. Hopefully, with this new strategy, the team will be able to make the games they love without compromising on quality or fans' trust.
Featured Image Credit: CD ProjektTopics: News, The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red