CD Projekt Red’s Colin Walder had a discussion with Inven Global, and he spoke at length about his career and his time at CD Projekt Red. He also gives some insight into what was going down around the time of Cyberpunk 2077‘s disastrous launch which resulted in it being pulled from the PS Store. The interview isn’t all sour, however, as he also discusses the lessons the studio learned and the changes that occurred.
When asked whether the studio knew things weren’t looking good before the game’s launch, Walder argues that during game development, “no one can predict everything that’s going to happen until it actually happens.” Hence, it’s only with hindsight that you can determine what went wrong.
Fortunately, the studio has been able to turn the situation around, and the game’s latest DLC, Phantom Liberty, has had a successful launch. According to Walder, Cyberpunk 2077 taught them about working with consoles and ensuring games run smoothly on them from day one. Hence, for their next project codenamed Polaris, the studio is “already running our demos and internal reviews on the console from the very beginning.”
A new world for CD Projekt Red
During the interview, Walder reveals that team members took a hit to their morale following the catastrophic launch of Cyberpunk 2077. To overcome the hump, they had to acknowledge and accept what had happened. Internal changes were necessary, and they needed to encompass more than mere promises. “Actions speak louder than words,” he claims.
Walder also discusses how the gaming world has changed and how this impacts development. The shift toward a work-from-home culture has conveniences many employees, though it can make communication harder.
Furthermore, when everyone’s at home “it’s easy to lose that personal connection and rapport you naturally build when physically together.” According to Walder, while remote work has value, there are some irreplaceable aspects of having a team physically together. Consequently, he argues that there needs to be a balance.
He briefly touches on artificial intelligence and its role in the future of gaming. He stresses that “ethical considerations are paramount, especially with technology capable of replicating human voices.” The studio had to contend with these ethical considerations when it decided to recreate the voice of a deceased Polish voice actor using AI. Though it can be exploitative, the technology also has the “potential to be inclusive in a respectful manner,” such as when it’s used to help voice actors who can’t perform for health reasons.
It appears there have been some changes at CD Projekt Red, and the studio is ready to prove itself to the world again. We’ll get to see what the studio is capable of soon, as there are several projects in the works, including a new mainline The Witcher entry.
