Changing the Design of Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077, the next game from the developers of Witcher 3, is coming. The problem is, we have no idea when. The IP remains a gigantic mystery, which has us all the more intrigued, especially since we know it will be an ambitious title. But, a former dev from CD Projekt RED recently took to his blog to talk about the in-studio issues in trying to develop a game that would please everyone.
Ex-employee Ryan Pergent took to his blog to air some of the issues he faced and witnessed in the Polish studio. From how it sounds, the writers for Cyberpunk 2077 had a problem with the game’s initial concept. Pergent affirms that it was only a small part that needed fixing. But, in a meeting attended by the heads of development, an issue with a slice of the concept led to a practical revamp. Here’s what Pergent said:
“The team I inherit of contains almost all the positions you can find in the studio. Designers, 3D artists, Cinematic Animators, Gameplay Animators, Writers, and Coders. The job is thrilling.
“The most challenging part: the Writers hate the design. I obviously can’t talk about the specificities, as the game hasn’t come out yet, but Writers straight up hate it.
“The most striking example is a meeting where all the Leads and Directors, including Adam, are gathered. In here, the Lead writer openly expresses his issues with the concept, echoing the opinion of his team. I keep it straight and manage to defend the idea with the promise that I won’t disappoint them. And I don’t. I rewrite the design almost entirely and come up with a better version that satisfy everyone, including the Writers. Before that, I had nightmares involving them. For real.
“Having to handle so many people, from so many different areas of development (some I never even touched) has me drinking a full cup of anxiety every morning before going to work. I love it, but god is it hard.”
By the end of his tenure at CD Projekt RED, Pergent had accumulated the roles of Senior Designer, A.I and System Team Coordinator, and Strike Team Lead. Due to the weight of those responsibilities and lack of a salary to offset them, he left the studio. Judging by his blog, the studio has gone far in correcting many issues that have risen over the course of development. However, if we were to extrapolate Pergent’s words, we can determine there’s been a pervasive amount of crunch faced by the teams. A very demanding game indeed. Thoughts? Feel free to comment yours down below.