[GameSpot] - CD Projekt Red Is Making Big Changes To Its Structure And Mission After Cyberpunk 2077

[343iBot]

CD Projekt Red, the developer of The Witcher and Cyberpunk franchises, has laid out its plans for a 2.0 version of the company. This includes changing some of its business and marketing strategies and looking to grow with acquisitions and more.

The Polish studio covered all of this in the video below. Starting off, the company said it wants to focus on quality as its top priority, which is a significant thing to say following the troubled launch of Cyberpunk 2077 in December that the studio is still addressing. The studio also said it wants to continue to create "revolutionary" new IP in the world of story-driven RPGs, while the developer wants to be known as one of the "world's top three video game developers" as part of this new effort.

As part of CD Projekt Red 2.0, the studio aims to develop a sustainable and "caring" workplace environment, centralize its RedEngine technology to support multiple franchises, create development teams that work across different franchises, and change how it communicates with fans through public relations and marketing.

On the engine changes, CD Projekt Red said it aims to centralize the company's engine to support two franchises at once. As an example, the studio said things like NPC behavior routines or player character control systems from one game can be carried over to the other. For team structures, CD Projekt Red is planning to have cross-functional teams where developers work on multiple games at the same time. "These teams will blend disciplines and expertise so we have closer communication and skill-sharing going on from the beginning," the studio said. "It's a much. more agile approach to game development."

In regards to how CD Projekt Red will change its communication going forward, the studio acknowledged issues with Cyberpunk 2077 in this department. "We see things that need to change in the future," the studio said. This will include marketing and PR campaigns that will be "much shorter," the studio said. The developer will wait until much closer to a game's launch to show a trailer, demos, or a showcase that goes in-depth on mechanics. CD Projekt Red may still release teasers for new projects very early in their development, however, but you shouldn't expect a series like Cyberpunk 2077's Night City Wire series to come until much closer to a game's release in the future.

What CD Projekt Red will talk about going forward will change, too, as the studio plans to focus more on polished game footage, not concepts, while the studio will showcase its games on all platforms that it will be available on. This seems to be directly in response to Cyberpunk 2077's marketing, which focused on the next-gen and PC editions of the game and not the Xbox One/PS4 versions that had many more issues.

CD Projekt Red will also now only focus on a single year at a time when it comes to content roadmaps. For 2021, this roadmap includes updates for Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher franchise. CD Projekt Red also reiterated that the next-gen versions of The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 remain in development and are scheduled for release in 2021.

As for CD Projekt Red's working environment, management said the goal will be to create a "comfortable," "open," and "empowering" place for people to come to work.

What's more, CD Projekt Red said it will be "more active" in M&A, which means mergers and acquisitions, in an effort to bolster its talent pool. Just today, March 30, CD Projekt Red announced it had acquired the Cyberpunk 2077 co-developer Digital Scapes to create its first Canadian studio, CD Projekt Red Vancouver.

CD Projekt Red also shared a slide that shows off what the studio aims to offer with its future games. This includes a further blending of genres, more online connectivity, and expanding its franchises to new markets like mobile, as well as to mediums beyond gaming. CD Projekt Red also aims to have "parallel IP development," meaning multiple AAA games from different franchises in the works at the same time instead of one after the other. This parallel AAA game development is expected to begin in 2022, but CD Projekt Red did not reveal which games or franchises would be included.

The full video offers even more insight into CD Projekt Red's 2.0 strategy and is well worth a watch for people interested in how the developer is changing its practices going forward.

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