In Cyberpunk 2077 a former developer compared the production already in 2019 with that of the flop Anthem. After the latest delay, the parallels are becoming clearer. Allegedly, the development of Cyberpunk 2077 at CD Projekt Red has been left on the back burner for a long time and now they have to work grueling overtime shifts in the final sprint.
This is the Anthem comparison: In May 2019, 4 former developers of Cyberpunk 2077 contacted investigative journalist Jason Schreier. He had previously published his major insider report on the development of Anthem. The development of Anthem was said to have gone like this:
- The game was in production from 2012 to 2019 – BioWare was working on a shared-world shooter for Electronic Arts
- but at the beginning of development not much happened, concepts were created and discarded. There was a lack of a clear plan, a common vision, and strong leadership
- whenever doubts arose about whether Anthem would turn out well, management referred to the “BioWare magic,” which would happen if one only tried hard enough. Every game always looks like nothing is coming together until this magic kicks in
- by the end of development, BioWare was under tremendous time pressure, and developers had to work overtime to somehow finish Anthem. It was said that developers had directly worked themselves into burnout. There was talk of an “epidemic of depression and anxiety” circulating in Edmonton
The former developers of Cyberpunk 2077 commented on Schreier’s report about Anthem (via kotaku):
I feel like you could draw hundreds of parallels between how Anthem was developed and how the bumpy development of Cyberpunk 2077 is going. I felt like you would just have to swap the name of the studio and the game title, and both reports would be very similar or even identical.
A former developer of Cyberpunk 2077
This was the initial reaction: Back then, many fans dismissed these reports. They were just statements from frustrated developers. No one speaks well of his former employer.
In addition, the heads of CD Projekt Red officially assured that they wanted to be “more humane” to the employees and largely avoid crunch.
Impressive game demos for major fairs made the Anthem comparison fade. Fans agreed that Cyberpunk 2077 would surely be fantastic and should never be mentioned in the same sentence as Anthem.
Any lingering doubts were dispelled by Keanu Reeves at E3 2019.
16 hours every day – since June 2019
This is the situation now: At the end of 2020, the situation around Cyberpunk 2077 has changed significantly:
- The developers have officially announced that they have to crunch.
- Cyberpunk 2077 has now been delayed for the 3rd time.
- There are horror stories circulating from people claiming to work at CD Projekt Red. There was talk of a “death march”. In a post on reddit, it said that some developers had “been crunching for over a year without a break.”
- it is said that “16-hour days, including weekends” have been going on since June 2019
Again, the parallels to Anthem are significant:
- It is said that CD Projekt Red would “put their feet up and fool around” in pre-production for ages, then panic and drive everyone to work endlessly
- there is no Plan B, deadlines must be met
- when doubts arise, they tell people: “We are driven by passion, we are rebels, this is not for everyone” – CD Projekt Red also invokes “the magic”
The information comes from a reddit post. Journalist Jason Schreier says he spoke with the author of the post and could confirm that the person had worked for CD Projekt Red.
According to Schreier, the “overtime situation” at CD Projekt Red is catastrophic. The crunch culture at CD Projekt Red is a harsh reality. One developer recently told him that he had just finished a “100-hour” week. Another source told him that he had friends at CD Projekt Red who looked “physically ill”.
Furthermore, CD Projekt Red does not communicate with the employees. The employees learned about the latest and now third delay of Cyberpunk 2077 on Twitter when it was announced to the fans.
What do other employees say? On the Glassdoor site, employees can anonymously rate their company. The reviews for CD Projekt Red show a nuanced picture (via glassdoor):
- Indeed, difficulties in management and a culture of overtime are often cited as criticisms. Many employees emphasize how difficult it is to take time off and relax. The “work-life” balance seems to be difficult at CD Projekt Red. The danger of “burnout” is apparently real for many employees.
- However, it is also emphasized that overtime is paid, even with a bonus. Those who work overtime on weekdays are said to receive 150% of the normal salary, and those who work on weekends even 200%. In addition, the cafeteria and fitness room are said to be very good, there are organized parties and many opportunities for further education, and the employees are great – even though management is often criticized.
For players, the overtime situation seems to play no significant role. They are more concerned about whether the bumpy development will also affect the finished product:
With Anthem, it was clear after the release: The bumpy development did not do the game any favors. Anthem was released unfinished, appeared hastily stitched together, and ran out of content after the release. They had crawled to the finish line, then collapsed and stayed down.
However, something like that seems unthinkable for Cyberpunk 2077. They still do not want to hear Anthem and Cyberpunk 2077 in the same sentence.
Instead of complaining about the development conditions, fans of Cyberpunk 2077 are currently upset about the 3rd delay, as they had been looking forward to the release. But even though Cyberpunk 2077 has already reached gold status, the delay happened. This caused some so-called fans to completely lose control:
Cyberpunk 2077: Disappointed players threaten to kill the developers
