There’s a ton of anticipation for CD Projekt Red’s next video game release. Well before 2020, there was hype building up for Cyberpunk 2077 and with the game slated to launch this year, there were fans eagerly awaiting to play this game. Unfortunately, for most studios, there is a crunch requirement for some of these video game projects. It’s something made mandatory for developers in which they are forced to work on the project for longer hours and extended days of the week. Most often, crunch is usually seen in a negative light and it’s a reason why so many development studios avoid going down that pathway if not necessary.
It wasn’t long ago that CD Projekt Red also made claims that they would not enter crunch for their video game development projects. That didn’t last as this year we saw the studio make a mandatory crunch mandate to their staff for the upcoming launch of Cyberpunk 2077. At the time, Cyberpunk 2077 was only a few weeks away from launch and while developers were forced into a crunch, the studio CEO, Adam Kicinski has stated that the employees would be well compensated for their work which is a plus over other studios in the market.
Still, this crunch process was a surprise announcement after the studio previously claimed nothing of the sorts would occur. Furthermore, there was an announcement just this week that confirmed Cyberpunk 2077 was going to miss its latest intended release date of November 19, 2020. Instead, the studio had once again pushed the game back for a launch on December 10, 2020. This delay happened to make sure all the platforms played well which apparently the platforms that are trailing behind are the current-generation PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Now during an investor’s financial call, CD Projekt Red’s CEO Adam Kicinski has made another comment on the crunch mandate. According to Adam, there are only a few employees going under crunch right now since so much of the game is done. He went on to say that the media picked this statement up and that their crunch is not all that bad with the team being rather happy with the extra three weeks the development studio had to tact on.