Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the biggest games of this year. Fans of the series have been waiting for more than seven years since it was initially announced. The main development of the game started after the second expansion pack for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was released. However, it has been a tough road.
Even though CD Projekt Red received a lot of praise for their critically acclaimed The Witcher 3, there was still some criticism that the company had to face for its massive crunch periods. Apparently, they lasted for months and several developers had to quit. CD Projekt Red later promised that they will not be adopting mandatory crunch time anymore.
While things are better than before, crunch is still not fully gone. According to a recent report by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier. CD Projekt Red employees again had to do mandatory six-day workweeks. As you would expect, CD Projekt Red received some major backlash because of this. Several fans asked the company to treat its employees better and delay the game again if they had to.
A Game Informer podcast recently suggested that my reporting on Cyberpunk 2077's crunch is incorrect. Nevermind that I've interviewed nearly a dozen CDPR devs. Here's an email from studio head Adam Badowski in June 2020 apologizing to the developers' partners for all the overtime pic.twitter.com/MFCnpfQdQ8
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) October 9, 2020
Schreier recently tweeted again where he shared a company email from CD Projekt Red to its employees. The email was also directed toward the partners of employees and apologized to them for the unfortunate stretch.
“I would ask you to humbly ask you to ENDURE IN THE EFFORT to deliver the game. I would also like to extend an apology to partners and ask for their support as well," the email reads. "Dear partners, I am fully aware that the hard work of your loved ones often means they cannot participate on the home front, but I promise this is the last stretch and the finish line is near.”
CD Projekt Red also promised that staff will receive ten percent of the developer's annual yearly income. So, I guess it’s a little better. Unfortunately, crunch is common in the gaming industry. Several companies that have delivered amazing games like Rockstar and Naughty Dog have been involved in heavy crunch periods. Bioware employees had to crunch for an entire year for Anthem.
So, what do you think? Do you think CD Projekt Red should have delayed Cyberpunk 2077 again? Do you think crunch is not that big of a deal? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
