Cyberpunk 2077 lead dev responds to crunch backlash

Adam Badowksi, the head of CD Projekt Red, has responded publicly following a report that the studio would be enforcing mandatory six-day working weeks for all staff in the lead up to the release of Cyberpunk 2077.

Although Badowski had previously stated that they would avoid crunch as much as possible, to buck the industry trend, it was uncovered in a report from Bloomberg that this was not going to be the case.

With the game already being delayed twice, another delay was not an option, according to the studio bosses, and so all of the development team would have to start doing six-day weeks.

On September 30, Badowski responded to the reports, after the studio-wide email was sent to press, explaining their position further.

“These last six weeks are our final sprint on a project we’ve all spent much of our lives on. Something we care for deeply,” he explained.

“The majority of the team understands the push, especially in light of the fact that we’ve just sent the game to cert, and every day brings us visibly closer to shipping a game we want to be proud of.”

“This is one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make, but everyone is well compensated for every extra hour they put in. And, like in recent years, 10% of the annual profit our company generates in 2020 will be split directly among the team.”

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When news of enforced overtime broke, many were calling for the game to simply be delayed again, rather than having more stress on the developers. Some even suggested boycotting the game entirely as a result.

The community will now have to gauge Badowski’s response, and how it measures up to their expectations of the acclaimed studio.