Why CD Projekt Red Sticks to Its Lane Even When Temptation Comes Calling

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Why CD Projekt Red Sticks to Its Lane Even When Temptation Comes Calling

When it comes to open-world titles, CD Projekt Red is a master of its craft. Cyberpunk 2077’s infamous launch didn’t stop them from transforming it into one of the greatest RPGs of all time, and with the sequel on the way, the company’s commitment to delivering quality experiences remains the same.

CD Projekt Red found its comfort zone in developing open-world RPG titles, which has paid off significantly, as you can make out from their track record. However, fans have been wondering whether they’ll ever venture into other types of games or stick to what they do best.

“AAA RPG, Open-World Narrative-Driven Games” is CD Projekt Red’s bread and butter

In the latest episode of CD Projekt Red’s

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celebrating The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s tenth anniversary, the studio’s higher-ups opened up about what they learnt over the years developing AAA RPG open-world titles, and how the genre has become their “niche” (as transcribed by

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).

The studio’s co-founder, Marcin Iwiński, explained that they’re always focused on creating the type of titles they’ve always created, and even when temptation comes calling, they stand on business.

In all that we’re doing, we’ve learned that we have to be razor-sharp, focused. We cannot do so many things we would love to do, that we are tempted to do. We tried, and it didn’t work out.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it seems to be their motto. Joint CEO Adam Badowski agreed with Iwiński and explained that their commitment to making open-world AAA titles led to them developing multiple projects together.

That’s why we switched from a single project company to a multiple project company. But everything is in our strategy.

Budowski mentioned their plans to stick to their “niche”, which is developing more AAA RPG, open-world narrative-driven titles like The Witcher series and Cyberpunk 2077.

We’re gonna develop AAA RPG, open-world narrative-driven games, and this is our – let’s say – niche. So the focus is there.

Given that CD Projekt Red is already developing The Witcher 4 and a Cyberpunk sequel, it’s pretty much confirmed that they have no intention to deviate from their current strategy.

However, Marcin stated that developing titles in that niche isn’t all sunshine and roses, and it comes with its own set of challenges, especially when other developers are developing different types of games.

When you’re growing,” Marcin admits, “it’s hard, because there are all these temptations and these people are doing this stuff online, and it’s so cool, and we love to play it, and – you think, ‘Okay, no let’s take a deep breath and come back to what we’re doing,’ because if we spread ourselves too thin, we’ll not deliver.

Their concerns about deviating from their niche and failing to deliver seem perfectly reasonable, as CD Projekt Red has always excelled when creating huge open worlds with a branching narrative.

So, it doesn’t matter how long they stick to their niche as long as they deliver experiences that live up to players’ expectations, and so far, so good. Sure, Cyberpunk 2077’s launch was less than favourable, but they turned it around, didn’t they?

Cyberpunk 2077 sequel is now in its pre-production stage

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CD Projekt Red’s sequel to the ambitious Cyberpunk 2077 has already entered the pre-production phase, and development seems to be sailing smoothly. In their latest earnings report, the studio confirmed that the title is no longer codenamed Project Orion and it’s officially called Cyberpunk 2.

Is the title final? Probably not, and it most likely will have a year in it just like its predecessor. We don’t know much about the upcoming title, but we do know that it’s years away from release, as “pre-production to final release takes four to five years on average,” according to CD Projekt Red co-CEO Michał Nowakowski.

Creator Mike Pondsmith did confirm that Night City would be making a return, along with a brand new city to explore, which is described as “Chicago gone wrong” in the sequel.

We could be looking at a potential release around 2030, so let’s hope it doesn’t share the same fate as Cyberpunk 2077. Chooms around the world would be gravely disappointed if push came to shove.

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#Projekt #Red #Sticks #Lane #Temptation #Calling

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