CD Projekt Red, the company behind The Witcher 3 posted an open letter on their Twitter account, regarding worker morale and concerns that the company is not suitable place to work. Concerns were made through the site Glassdoor, where employers and employees can make anonymous comments about the pros and cons of working at their companies, how they feel about their CEOs and if they recommend a job or not.
In the letter, CD Projekt Red mentions their work on Cyberpunk 2077, and the scale of their past project The Wither 3: Wild Hunt. Fans expressed concern over developers leaving the extensive Cyberpunk 2077 project, amidst poor reviews on Glassdoor; they believe poor work morale and working conditions caused employees to leave and in-turn, delay the project. CD Projekt Red believes employees leaving a project is a normal part of the process and states their slow progression is part of their unique and creative process, and aligns with how they have worked on past projects.
Every role-playing game we ever developed seemed impossible to achieve at the moment we set out to create it. It took us five years to finish The Witcher 1, we had to make our own engine to complete The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, and we had to entirely reinvent the way we made games to deliver an open world for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. When we start down the road to create something, we know the destination and we’re sure of one thing: even if something feels impossible, it doesn’t mean it is…
CD Projekt Red does not try to dismiss concerns over employee departures, but seems comfortable taking their time in working on Cyberpunk 2077 and other projects. The company takes a strong stance on reinventing the way they work on games, but has not directly addressed working conditions or specific employee comments. In the thread containing CD Projekt Red’s letter, some Twitter users agree with the company’s opinion, while others believe they are avoiding an important discussion about mistreatment of employees no matter how long a project takes.
Cyberpunk 2077 does not have an official release date yet, but more information about the game is available on the official website.