Developer studios occasionally hire modders from the community to assist in the development of new games. A then 20-year-old beet farmer was particularly fortunate, as he impressed CD Projekt Red so much that he is now allowed to work on The Witcher 4.
How did he accomplish that? The beet farmer named Eero Varendi (via Moby Games), originally from Estonia, worked on his mods in the evenings. He uploaded his works in videos on YouTube. It was there that CD Projekt Red discovered the young man’s work and took notice of him:
There was a video on YouTube about a guy who reshaped the prologue of Witcher 1 into Witcher 3 without any modding toolset at all. I saw the video and thought to myself, “Damn, that’s such high-quality work”.
Pawel Sasko, CD Projekt Red, in a podcast with Flow Gaming
He asked another employee, who also began his career as a modder, if he knew the YouTuber. When the employee answered affirmatively, CD Projekt Red invited him over. The beet farmer submitted his resume and passed the hiring test, which focused on design, with flying colors.
The man from Estonia, who at the time was living in Australia, was hired by CD Projekt Red and brought from Australia to Poland. Pawel Sasko, Associate Game Director for Cyberpunk 2, praised his colleague and stated that he is now a Senior Quest Designer at The Witcher 4. The game begins a new saga and consists of more than one part.
CD Projekt Red even included an Easter egg from The Witcher in Cyberpunk 2077:
Modders are not uncommon at CD Projekt Red
How many modders work at CD Projekt Red? As Sasko revealed, half of the development team responsible for designing the quests in Cyberpunk 2 consists of former modders. Of the total 24 people, around 12 would thus be former modders.
Not all of the modders have previously worked on The Witcher and Cyberpunk. The Lead Quest Designer Błażej Augustynek started as a modder for StarCraft.
To gain a foothold in the gaming industry, Sasko advises young players to start modding. There are so many toolkits like the in-house REDkit modding tool. Some of the best employees that CD Projekt Red currently has are former modders.
How far along is The Witcher 4? In the same interview, Sasko reveals that the fourth installment of the Witcher series is set to begin production in 2024. Currently, 400 employees are working on the game. At the end of 2023, there were still around 300 employees working on The Witcher 4.
The title is intended to be further along than Cyberpunk 2, for which the production phase is still a distant prospect. Thus, estimating a release date for both games is difficult, as it will take several years before they are released.
It is no longer uncommon for modders to be hired for the development of a new game. The team from Starfield also hired a modder who was allowed to place trash in the game: Developer makes such good mods for Skyrim that Bethesda hires her, placed trash in Starfield
