Several former employees of CD Projekt Red recently posted negative reviews about the company on Glassdoor. The reviews mainly leveled criticism at the company for long working hours and low pay. The complaints were met by current employees leaving positive reviews on the site and rebutting some of the other posters.
The ripple raised concerns that low morale within the studio might negatively affect development on the hotly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077. To quell concerns, co-founder Marcin Iwinski and studio head Adam Badowski posted an open letter to Twitter explaining the company’s culture, philosophy and development stance, particularly concerning Cyberpunk 2077.
“We'd normally avoid commenting on company reviews on spaces like Glassdoor, but this time around – especially in light of the fact that we haven't communicated anything about Cyberpunk 2077 for a long time and saw some gamers getting worried about the project – we’d like to elaborate on a few things.”
The letter went on to explain that contrary to reviews stating that many employees are being driven off by working conditions, the studio has actually doubled in size since the release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. They also point out that the loss of a single employee, “even a high-profile one,” is not enough to jeopardize the development of Cyberpunk 2077.
From the start, the company planned on it being a triple-A title, and as such, has avoided putting all its eggs in one basket.
— CD PROJEKT RED (@CDPROJEKTRED) October 16, 2017
The letter touches on the troubles and challenges faced with all three Witcher projects and the lessons learned. The development of those titles taught them that “even if something feels impossible, it doesn't mean it is.” The progress on Cyberpunk 2077 has been deliberately slow and this creative approach does not fit everyone’s style.
“Cyberpunk 2077 is progressing as planned, but we are taking our time – in this case, silence is the cost of making a great game.”
One employee who spoke up in support of the studio on Glassdoor said that the company is focused on quality and that sometimes that means changes to the plan. “You have to learn how to adapt if priorities are changing (and it happens from time to time) – it’s not a walk in the park.”
The bottom line is that a few ex-employees complaining about their former place of employment is not necessarily representative of the remaining 400 people who continue to work there. More importantly, the Cyberpunk 2077 project is still intact and on schedule, even if that schedule puts its release loosely between now and 2021.
https://www.techspot.com/news/71431-cd-projekt-red-addresses-company-morale-concerns-cyberpunk.html
