CD Projekt Red veterans head up new independent game studio Rebel Wolves

[Cal Jeffrey]

What just happened? A couple of former CD Projekt Red executives have formed a new studio based in Nova Scotia, Canada, called Rebel Wolves. The founders, Konrad Tomaszkiewicz and Jakub Szamałek, both worked on The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 when still at CDPR.

Tomaszkiewicz directed The Witcher 3 and served multiple roles during Cyberpunk's development, including vice president of game development, secondary game director, and head of production. Tomaszkiewicz left CDPR under allegations that he bullied coworkers. He was later found not guilty but had already begun working at the Warsaw Film School. He will act as the new studio's CEO and Game Director.

Szamałek was the principal writer on CP 2077 and senior writer on most of The Witcher 3's DLC. He will serve Rebel Wolves as the Narrative Director. He left CDPR around the same time as Tomaszkiewicz and in the interim worked as a narrative consultant and freelance video game writer.

Ten other video game vets joined Rebel Wolves, including developers who worked on Shadow Warrior 2 and Thronebreaker. The studio wants to expand to about 80 staff members, but Tomaszkiewicz told GamesIndustry he wishes to keep the company relatively small, focused, and driven.

Founders Konrad Tomaszkiewicz (left) and Jakub Szamałek (right).

"So we're extremely happy and proud that we've already managed to sign on some of the best artists, coders, and designers in the industry," Tomaszkiewicz said. "We can't compete with the top dogs when it comes to size or recognition, but we can provide something just as alluring: an environment where developers can think big, follow their dreams and feel ownership over their work."

Tomaszkiewicz didn't have much to say about the studio's first project. All we know is that it will be a "dark fantasy RPG." He said the vision is to design a video game world that feels like a pen-and-paper RPG.

"We want to recreate the feeling of a pen and paper RPG session, where your options seem limitless, where the world reacts to your choices, where every decision matters," he said. "[We want to make] the holy grail of computer RPGs."

The company also wants to avoid the complications of licensing existing franchises like CDPR did with The Witcher series and Cyberpunk 2077. So we know the IP will be something original. It could be quite some time before we hear anything more, but Tomaszkiewicz promises Rebel Wolves will be just as, if not more, transparent than CD Projekt Red.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/93435-cd-projekt-red-veterans-head-up-new-independent.html

 

[Dimitriid]

Tomaszkiewicz left CDPR under allegations that he bullied coworkers. He was later found not guilty but had already begun working at the Warsaw Film School. He will act as the new studio's CEO and Game Director.

Szamałek was the principal writer on CP 2077 and senior writer on most of The Witcher 3's DLC. He will serve Rebel Wolves as the Narrative Director. He left CDPR around the same time as Tomaszkiewicz and in the interim worked as a narrative consultant and freelance video game writer.

Big yikes: You left with your buddy because you were abusive (allegedly) and decide to name your new company "Rebel Wolves"?

Might as well name it "Experienced coder-worker exploiters" guaranteed to work any of their employees past the point of madness with unprecedented crunch.

 

[Giacobbe Orsini]

Cryngy name.

Printed a tshirt and posed for photos instead of actually releasing a game or a demo or a trailer.

Lots of designers, no devs mentioned.

 

[kiwigraeme]

Big yikes: You left with your buddy because you were abusive (allegedly) and decide to name your new company "Rebel Wolves"?

Might as well name it "Experienced coder-worker exploiters" guaranteed to work any of their employees past the point of madness with unprecedented crunch.

If it's a small team - with decent profit sharing and that these guys were pushing themselves just as hard, Then if you buy in - you can't complain .
I can give examples of cultures I know that are , or were brutal - but were also exacting for the ruling class.

As to their Aims - I think you can get bogged down - put achievable goals - cut out some stuff .What do they want?
Language, real world physics ( with allowable fantasy elements ) , independent agents , AI , unlimited paths for some stuff etc etc .

I think what will happen in this sphere will be like language - People slaving away for decades building up millions of rules and exceptions - then a long comes google with statistical analysis .

Same thing here building complex engines - huge matrices or whatever and a long comes Google AI chips that have been primed by AI structures 10000 times bigger , with possible AI cloud servers to do edge cases or those deemed important .

I haven't played any stealth games lately to see how smart AI is - I mean is it just throw a stone over there , or start an appear large firefight over there . or organised the Moscow Circus to come to town with free tickets for whole countryside - first come , first served , or do you find out the names of guards and info about them to use - don't know

 

[Shaitan]

Big yikes: You left with your buddy because you were abusive (allegedly) and decide to name your new company "Rebel Wolves"?

Might as well name it "Experienced coder-worker exploiters" guaranteed to work any of their employees past the point of madness with unprecedented crunch.

No one cares about their "exploitation" and I for one will definitely onboard any "non-woke" bandwagon which pisses on politically correct garbage.

 

[Uncle Al]

Any new competition is always welcome .... at least from the buyer's perspective ...

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Big yikes: You left with your buddy because you were abusive (allegedly) and decide to name your new company "Rebel Wolves"?

Might as well name it "Experienced coder-worker exploiters" guaranteed to work any of their employees past the point of madness with unprecedented crunch.

Big yikes right here friendo! He was found not guilty, there was no evidence for the allegations! Might want to check yourself at the door before making defamous claims. Le epic reddit moment, ece ece barf.

No one cares about their "exploitation" and I for one will definitely onboard any "non-woke" bandwagon which pisses on politically correct garbage.

Agreed. Less pozzed, more focused developers make great games. When a bunch of tumblr hair "developers" whine about "muh boolying" usually it equates to "do your job and stop whining on twitter about privilege".