In what is quite a big announcement for the Polish video game studio, the CD Projekt co-founder and CEO, Marcin Iwiński, has revealed that he will be stepping down from his current role after nearly 30 years in the seat. However, this doesn’t mean that Iwiński will be leaving the studio entirely because he has announced that he will instead take on a new non-executive role at the famed developing studio.
The news was revealed in an official statement on Tuesday (October 4) and it comes as a bit of a shock because the man has been such an integral and prominent voice at the studio for such a long time. He announced his resignation as well as submitted his candidacy for the position of chairman of the company’s supervisory board.
In the statement (which you can read in full here) Iwiński said: “I’ve been at CD Projekt for almost 30 years, and I have seen it go from a handful of passion-driven rebels to an internationally recognized developer of story-driven role-playing games that are loved by millions.” He added, “back when Michal Kiciński and I founded the company, I don’t think either of us would have been able to imagine this incredible journey, not even in our wildest dreams.”
This news was announced during a very busy day for CD Projekt, as the studio laid out its plans for the next few years. The CD Projekt strategy update revealed that the studio will be working on a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 which is codenamed ‘Project Orion’, as well as a new trilogy of Witcher games, Witcher spin-offs, as well as a brand-new original IP.
In Iwiński’s leaving statement, he also spoke about the pride he has in being involved in such an ambitious strategy as the one above, with the aim of the strategy hopefully being that the studio starts making even bigger strides in the industry and achieving lofty new heights. The CD Projekt co-founder said, “I intend to remain as a major shareholder, and in my new non-executive role, I will remain active and engaged while dedicating my focus on supporting the entire management board.”
Of course, he will want to stay on board because the trajectory of the studio is looking mightily impressive, he would be silly not to stick around. Maybe the decision for Iwiński to step down is a positive one though, it allows someone else with a fresh outlook to come in and possibly change a few things. It also lets Iwiński step back and look at things from a different point of view, and it might even allow the man to reassess the previous decisions he’s made, and let all these other brilliantly creative minds take some initiative.
