'Cyberpunk 2077' Studio Boss Apologises For "Demeaning" Comments On Crunch
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Featured Image Credit: CD Projekt Red
CD Projekt Red co-CEO Adam Kiciński has apologised for shrugging off questions about crunch on Cyberpunk 2077, describing his comments as "demeaning and harmful."
Even though the company had stated that the teams would work under a "non-obligatory crunch policy," news broke in late September that they would in fact be required to undertake six-day weeks. "Starting today, the entire (development) studio is in overdrive," said studio head Adam Badowski, and he acknowledged that he would bear the brunt of the criticism for this decision. In spite of this increase in intensity, the game was delayed for the third time earlier this week, and its launch date has been moved from November 19th to December 10th.
Subsequently, co-CEO Adam Kiciński and vice president of business development Michal Nowakowski spoke to investors to shed some light on the situation and address any concerns. During this call, Kiciński fielded a question about crunch conditions on the project, and his response was... not brilliant. "Actually, it's not that bad - and never was," he replied. "Of course it's a story that has been picked up by the media, and some people have been crunching heavily, but a large part of the team is not crunching at all since they have finished their work." He continued to assert that the team had been notified about the possibility of extending the pre-existing crunch conditions, and were "happy" with what lies ahead.
Now, Kiciński has apologised for these dismissive comments in an internal email to CD Projekt Red employees (shared with Jason Schreier, a Bloomberg reporter). "I had not wanted to comment on crunch, yet I still did, and I did it in a demeaning and harmful way," said the co-CEO. "What I said was not even unfortunate, it was utterly bad." Two weeks ago, an anonymous Reddit post from a CD Projekt Red employee claimed that the project's management are "completely detached from the reality" of working on Cyberpunk 2077. The experiences gained from the development of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which was troublesome in similar ways to Cyberpunk 2077, have apparently made no impact on the practices of the company.
"That directors and leads in [Warsaw] are the people that did this shit for W3, are the people that survived that hell and are ok with it," they explained. "The people that want the product OUT asap are the board and the marketing directors, and they don't give a flying fuck about the work balance." With Kiciński's apology, it is hoped that the extra three weeks afforded to the Cyberpunk 2077 team go as smoothly as possible, and that the deadline is not delayed again.
Topics: Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red
