CD Projekt spent $125M on improving Cyberpunk 2077, while staff announces unionization after another round of layoffs. Learn more about CD Projekt’s finance report and the studio’s woes that led to the unionization.
CD Projekt Huge Spending and 3rd Wave of Layoffs
$125M for Cyberpunk 2077 Improvement
CD Projekt reportedly spent $125M to fix up Cyberpunk 2077 after its rocky launch. This huge sum was dedicated to improving the game since its abysmal release, with efforts that included the release of the Edgerunners and Update 2.0 patches and the critically acclaimed Phantom Liberty expansion.
Fixing Cyberpunk 2077 and the 2.0 update alone came with a price tag of approximately $40.9M. Meanwhile the expansion, featuring actor Idris Elba, accounted for roughly $63.2 million in development costs and $21.83 million in marketing expenses.
This collective investment totaled nearly $125.9 million. It's worth noting that the initial development of Cyberpunk 2077 cost a staggering 1.2 billion Polish Zloty, roughly equivalent to $316 million, making it one of the costliest games ever created.
The studio’s efforts and financial investment seems to have paid off, as Cyberpunk 2077’s playerbase skyrocketed as well as its reviews, now garnering a “Very Positive” review in Steam.
CD Projekt Employees Unionize
Despite the studio’s success, a third wave of layoffs happened in 2023, with 9% or roughly 100 people being let go.
This event, according to Polish Gamedev Workers Union, caused a "tremendous amount of stress and insecurity, affecting… mental health and leading to the creation of this union in response."
Furthermore, the union stressed that having a union will mean more security and protection, having more transparency, and a stronger voice in times of crisis.
"While employees are the ones creating value in this arrangement, they lack any decision power in company-structure-related matters," they added.
The newly created union aims to build a collective and operate as a support system for CD Projekt Red employees and others in the video game industry. They plan to achieve more employment stability, negotiate terms for mass layoffs, and influence working conditions.
More Layoff Season
Unfortunately, multiple studios and companies have either faced or announced layoffs this 2023. Even big studios with massive hits like EA, Naughty Dog, and Epic Games have resorted to layoffs to reduce costs. There seems to be a disparity between the financial success of games and how they translate to the treatment of the developers who worked hard on creating said games. That being said, while unionization might not be the cure-all, it’s one big step towards sustained employment security for developers.
Sources:
Polish Gamedev Workers Union
CD PROJEKT Investor Day: Phantom Liberty
