How Cyberpunk 2077 was developed? Timeline and insight from Poland
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Hello, I'm from Poland and I would like to share with you a little insight how Cyberpunk 2077 was developed. Little disclaimer though - I have nothing do with creating games, I have connections though and I was able to reach to one of the people, who worked most of the time on Cyberpunk 2077 (he want soon to resign, but he wants no problems, so I am going to remain his identity hidden).
Please keep in mind that I'm amateur about games and coding, I just gathered information, and I don't know like specific games coding names, etc.
Why I am sharing this? I have my own reasons. Although I have nothing to do with CD Projekt, I recently found out that this company was granted 7 mln € (8.4 mln $) from the government for no particular reasons, even though the owners of company belong to top of the richest Poles. Owners of the company are also involved from the shadows in the politics with different politicans and this company is not bothered so much by the laws that normally companies should abide, it's treated like some kind of holy grail, even though their stocks were overvalued (making game once per 4-5 years and having such high stock's value just doesn't add up, even if they are only masterpieces). You know many people in Poland and throughout the world mistake clicking in computer with new technologies sector of entertmaint. For example, Amazon is not New Technology company. Jeff Bezos owns some New Technology companies, but Amazon itself is just: big warehouses + shop + platform for other to sell + logistics. And the same goes for game making - it's purely entertainment sector of economy and should not be granted with money from the government whatsoever. New Technologies are: sattelites, robotic surgeons helping surgeons, radioactive isotops used in medicine, making fast trains, 3D printing, making synchronised traffic lights, more efficient engines, vertical farming, improved recycling methods - this kind of things. 2nd reason is I didn't like passive aggresive behaviour from the owners of the company toward customers about refunding this game. If you had fun playing it, I'm not gonna argue with you. But I saw enough videos on youtube to know that this game is just bugged on unacceptable level, and even though more problems on consoles, still even on PC problems with saving over 8 MB, or like overal problem with AI - I stopped watching videos about the game, when I saw one, where police stopped chasing the player, when he got away for 100 m.
Anyway, let's begin. But before, one more thing.
Crunching in CDP means like working 16 hours per day including Saturdays and Sundays, because even beside crunching it's normal for them to work 10-12 hours Monday Friday and 6-8 hours Saturday. Also sometimes company cheats and not always pays for all the job done during the overtime. Also employees turnover is massive, it was normal for "my guy" that from the beginning when he started to work that after 2 years of time he saw more new faces than the faces familiar to him 2 years before. Nothing shocking about it - wages are around 40% smaller than in other game studios in Poland, even comparing with smaller ones, which release some not well-known titles for like 20-25€. And there is not much progress in this company, you can basically be promoted from junior dev to senior dev and this is pretty much it (and most of the cases you will not be paid more), and very rarely if you are lucky (or rather, where there is situation with not enough hands on the deck) - to leader developer / lower management (and sometimes position of the team leading developer is just fill up with 2 random junior/senior developers until further notice). My source tells me that other benefits are good though - free gym, free cinema, free fruits, free beer.
2011
The Witcher 2, the big success of the company is released. Now the CD Projekt owners feel sure that they should diversive more. Work witch Witcher 3 begins (even though initially Witcher's 3 production was planned from 2008). Board of directors (this name is pretty much interchangable with the owners and with top management) looks also for another title to make beside Witcher. My source is hired to work initially on Witcher 3 somewhere in 2011.
VERGE OF 2011 / 2012
CDP reaches out to the creator of Cyberpunk.
EARLY 2012
Few people delegated to work on general ideas about Cyberpunk.
MIDDLE OF 2012
CDP starts to look for the directors for Cyberpunk project, around 40 people work on Cyberpunk.
it is thought that initially it will work on REDengine 3, the same that the Witcher 3 has. It is also revelad that the game will work on the then-future consoles (PS4, Xbox One).
EARLY 2013
Around dozen people left in the Cyberpunk's department, rest of the crew joins crunching in The Witcher 3.
Adam Badowski, member of the board of the company confirmes that the game is meant to have multiplayer.
SOMEWHERE DURING 2015
My source is moved from the Witcher 3 to Cyberpunk
EARLY 2015
2-3 dozens people work on the Cyberpunk project at that time, still most people are on the Witcher 3
MIDDLE OF 2015
Most of the people switched to Cyberpunk, now the proportions are changed and just some people are left on
the Witcher 3 (after its release). Now, on Cyberpunk work around 100 people (not all people went from the Witcher 3 to Cyberpunk, some found new job opportunities, some were terminated).
LATE 2015
The Witcher 3 project is considered generally to be closed, now almost 150 people work on Cyberpunk.
Problems arise between old Cyberpunk crew from 2012 - early 2015 and new crew that has joined later from the Witcher 3. From one hand, new crew members are thrown on the deep water, on the other hand, many ideas from the old crew are now being thrown to the bin, since management now is looking more deeply in Cyberpunk (heavy micro-management). Competition between old and new crew is fueled by the upper management (owners, board of directors).
EARLY 2016
Owners want to transgenders to be chosen in the game, different voice options, etc.
CDP finds musician to compose music.
CDP wants to release two titles somewhere between 2018 and early 2021, one of them being Cyberpunk.
MIDDLE OF 2016
150-200 people work on Cyberpunk.
LATE OF 2016
Most of the crew from before middle of 2015 (around 30 people) is instantly terminated, new vision of the project ahead
After all there will be new engine REDengine 4 (highly improved modification of REDengine 3), instead of exactly the same engine like in the Witcher 3.
CDP receives money from the government with the purpos of "creating big virtual city".
EARLY 2017
Owners expect that main course of the game should provide at least 50 hours of playing.
MIDDLE OF 2017
Someone is blackmailing CDP that he will reveal documentation of the game. CDP states to the blackmailer: you can go on, we don't care, from early 2017 we have new project going on about Cyberpunk and you have old data.
Several senior, well-known senior specialists leave the project. But many new people are hired now. And new problems arise in the crew - now between people who were anywhere near the Witcher 3 (less than 60 devs at this time), and new crew, people who mostly are right from the university or during senior years of studies (more than 150). And like before the competition is fueled by the upper management. People do not know who to trust with their ideas, and doesn't matter are you from old or new crew, better don't say too much about your ideas to middle managements (leads), because they will think you want to be smart and maybe take their position.
Now owners expect that the game provide in the main quests 80-100 hours of playing.
LATE 2017
250 people work on Cyberpunk now, but from them around 40 people are temporarly delegated for now to work specifically on the official trailer and to prepare sneak peeks before E3 Expo 2018.
EARLY 2018
CDP takes over other small gaming company in Poland with 20 people. They also now are meant to work on Cyberpunk.
MIDDLE OF 2018
Official trailer is presented on
E3 Expo 2018.
Over 300 people now are working on Cyberpunk (less than 50 from the team of the Witcher 3)
Owners tell the crew that they want see the game be released 1.5 year from now and they want to sell 20 mln copies in the first quarter after the release.
LATE OF 2018
Around 350 people work on Cyberpunk. CDP also starts hiring several people by external companies / subsidiaries, also in other parts of the world (like in Canada).
EARLY 2019
Some people go away, some new people are hired, now almost 400 devs (junior, senior, and leads who are also the lower management).
Around 50 people are working now to prepare material for
E3 Expo 2019.
Beside mentioned 400 people, 50 people are meant to make different team to work on a different game, that is meant to be released one year after Cyberpunk.
Owners give up about genders, and also say that no need for 80-100 hours for the maing quests, around 60 hours will be enough, also the world doesn't have to be bigger than in the Witcher 3
MIDDLE OF 2019
People who were supposed to work on the different title, now also take care about Cyberpunk.
The unofficial Crunch for Cyberpunk begins, people work 6-7 days a week for 15-16 hours. It is forbidden though too call it crunch, and if somebody outside of the company comes to visit, they all should smile and look well rested, or they will have problems with HR.
Less than 40 left from the crew that made the Witcher 3 (not counting the middle management that basically are either Old Guard from times of Witcher 1, or specialist hired from other well known game producers).
E3 2019 Expo, date at 16-04-2020 is announced, but nobody in the studio believes that it will happen, game at this stage (june 2019) may be called with a very good will as
pre-alpha.
After E3 2019 Expo is over, the leads (lower managament) and the middle and the upper management receive big bonuses.
40 people start to work on a multiplayer version.
Management decides there's no time for demo version of the game.
LATE 2019
It is decided that multiplayer should be seperate, paid thing and released 2 years later after the original Cyberpunk.
Now, more external companies are collaborating with CDP on Cyberpunk.
Moods in the crew are tough, everybody believes that board of directors and management expect too much. They don't want to listen what devs have to say, at this point if you talk too much about any ideas or problems, you can be instantly terminate
First real
beta tests begin, in the versions on consoles the game is barely working.
Most of the people who started to work on the multiplayer version, now work on the main singleplayer version.
Management gives up about metro transportation, running on the walls, flying cars, large discussions with passerbies, different voice options, and other things. My source believes that the overall content is 1/4 - 1/3 smaller than that planned before.
JANUARY 2020
The date of the release is postponed from April to September.
My source believes at that time that the cut version of the game is playable in 80% on PC and 70% on consoles.
Almost 450 people work now directly in CDP on Cyberpunk + some outsorcing, altogether almost 500 people. It is decided there will be no other game and multiplayer for Cyberpunk at least until late 2022.
MARCH 2020
Coronavirus comes to Poland.
MAY 2020
Corona hits Poland hard. It is known now that Corona will affect work, many people do not believe that the game will be ready at September.
JUNE 2020
Many people in the crew doubt that versions on PS5, XSXS will be ready before 2022.
New date of release, from September to November.
29 OCTOBER 2020
The premiere is moved from 19-11-2020 to 10-12-2020. Devs are informed the very same day like the rest of the world. Why? So "they could get their asses more tight on the job during the last 2 months".
10 DECEMBER 2020
The premiere.
