A former CD Projekt Red developer with an insider knowledge of its upcoming RPG, Cyberpunk 2077, has spoken out against the process of creating the game.
According to the anonymous source, Cyberpunk‘s development at the time they worked there was incredibly similar to BioWare’s Anthem, the failed online multiplayer that’s become the worst-rated game in the company’s history.
Anthem was plagued with problems even before it launched earlier this year, and accusations of a rough crunch period for its devs – with long hours, extended working weeks and generally stressful work environments – hit the headlines.
The former dev compared Anthem to the yet-to-be-released Cyberpunk, telling Kotaku: “I’ve felt that there are hundreds of parallels that could be drawn between the story of the rocky development of Anthem and the story of the rocky and even-more-rocky-to-become development of Cyberpunk 2077,
“At times, I’ve felt I could just replace the studio name and the game title, and it would all look so similar, almost identical.”
The dreaded crunch is something that studios really want to crack down on, because nobody wants to work in such a place. The likes of Riot Games, NetherRealm Studios, Rockstar Games, and the now-closed Telltale Games have all faced tough allegations from their staff regarding crunch.
CD Projekt Red has admitted that the crunch period for The Witcher 3: Wild Huntwas “inhumane,” and claimed it’s something they’re desperately trying to avoid with Cyberpunk 2077.
Studio co-founder Marcin Iwiński recently spoke to PCGamer about the dreaded crunch, and the studio’s plans to avoid it this time around.
“We’ve been communicating clearly to people that of course there are certain moments where we need to work harder—like I think the [2018] E3 demo is a pretty good example—but we want to be more humane and treat people with respect,” said Iwiński.
“We’ve created a lot of force functions for us to improve. Making this commitment, I hope it shows that we are treating this matter very seriously.”
CD Projekt Red hasn’t commented on the former dev’s allegations regarding the development process of the game.
Featured Image Credit: CD Project Red