Projekt Red: CD Projekt Red announces more job cuts, here’s CEO’s ‘open letter’ on layoffs – Times of India

Game developing studio CD Projekt Red has announced another round of job cuts. The studio, which has popular titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher under its belt, has confirmed that it will be laying off 100 employees which is roughly 9% of its entire workforce. CD Projekt Redhas a few games in the pipeline, but it looks like the company doesn’t have enough work for all its employees.The company has also promised all the affected employees “a comprehensive severance package.”

The earlier round of job cuts at the company was made in May and June this year. CD Projekt Red CEO Adam Kicinski announced the latest round of layoffs on the company’s website in an open letter titled ‘Organisational Update’. Here’s the letter as published on the company’s website.

Read CEO Adam Kicinski’s letter about the layoffs
“I have some news to share regarding the future shape of our teams and our game development philosophy.
Those of you familiar with our strategy might remember that we have a lot going on at CD PROJEKT RED. Projects like Polaris (The Witcher franchise), Orion (Cyberpunk franchise), or Hadar (new franchise) are just some of the exciting elements in the future we see for our games. Part of that strategy is an ongoing process of several deep transformations within the studio which we consider key to making quality games, on time and without crunch. After reshaping our development process and incorporating Agile methodologies, we’re now focusing on refining the shape of our teams.
To meet our own high expectations and ambitions to create the best role-playing games, we not only want to have the best people but also the right teams. What we mean by that is having teams that are built around our projects’ needs; teams that are more agile and more effective. At this point in time, we’re certain that for CD PROJEKT RED to grow, we need to be consistent in implementing that approach.
We’ve carefully assessed all teams in the company in terms of their expected contribution to the delivery of our strategy. There’s no easy way to say this, but today we are overstaffed. We have talented people on board who are finishing their tasks and — based on current and expected project needs — we already know we don’t have other opportunities for them in the next year. The outcome is the studio parting ways with around 100 people, which is roughly 9% of the entire team. This will not be immediate as some employees will be let go as late as Q1 2024 but, in the spirit of transparency, we’ve chosen to share the information now. We want team members to have ample time to process and adjust to the change, and we’ve also made sure to offer everyone a comprehensive severance package.
Finally, I would like to address affected CDPR team members reading this message. Although our paths will diverge professionally, I believe the relationships we have built can remain strong. I encourage you to stay connected and would like to thank you for being an invaluable part of our journey. Your impact will resonate within CD PROJEKT RED and we wish you nothing but success and fulfilment in the next chapter of your professional life.
Adam Kiciński
CEO, CD PROJEKT”