WTF?! CD Projekt Red is restructuring so that the studio can develop multiple AAA games at a time. Some of you may be wondering, "How can it focus on more than one title when it could not even launch Cyberpunk 2077 on time and without bugs?" However, it is because of the CP2077 fiasco that the reorganizing is taking place.
On Tuesday, in a 24-minute corporate "strategy update" (below), CD Projekt Red outlined how it would ensure growth going forward.
"The launch of Cyberpunk 2077 did not meet our quality standards, and we made a commitment to improve going forward," said CDPR's CEO Adam Kiciński. "First and foremost, we want to do right by gamers to ensure we stick to all our values in the future. With that in mind, we have created a strategic development framework."
The company intends to use this framework, dubbed "RED 2.0," to streamline operations and enable the studio to work on its two core franchises---The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077---simultaneously. Work will include AAA console and PC development as well as mobile IPs and other media, including several TV series and merchandising.
The plan includes bolstering its triple-A production capabilities, to which end it has picked up Vancouver studio Digital Scrapes. The studio is to become CD Projekt Red Vancouver and help create future CP2077 expansions and sequels. This extra staff will enable CDPR to work on The Witcher and Cyberpunk properties in parallel.
The company realizes that it blew the hype train off the tracks with CP2077 and said that part of its restructuring would be to change its marketing strategy by "taking lessons from past marketing campaigns." said Kiciński. Future marketing efforts will be reigned in closer to launch time.
"We have learned many things from our marketing and PR campaigns for Cyberpunk 2077 and see things that need to change in the future," said Senior Vice President of Business Development Michał Nowakowski. "Going forward, future marketing campaigns will be much shorter. We'll wait until much closer to a game's launch before we start showing things like trailers, demos, or going in-depth about mechanics."
CDPR will also be centralizing its RED Engine so that it can seamlessly serve both franchises. Modifying the game engine to fit both properties without compromise will cut down on time spent tweaking code for situations unique to each game.
Centralizing the game engine will allow the studio to form cross-functional teams that can work on either IP, which should alleviate bottlenecks and enable staff to shift when needed. The studio will also deploy cross-project experts to assist and advise either development team. These changes will permit much more agile project development.
CD Projekt Red has been all-hands-on-deck trying to fix all the flaws in Cyberpunk 2077 and recently released its biggest patch yet. Hopefully, its new strategy will help it avoid such costly mistakes.