CD Projekt Red Says Success is Thanks to Being Unafraid of Change

It was recently revealed that Cyberpunk 2077 will feature on the cover of the November issue of Edge magazine; a UK-based gaming publication. Now, we have some idea of the content which the magazine will run in the issue about the upcoming game. Specifically, an interview with Richard Borzymowski, a Producer at CD Projekt Red, and others. In the interview, Borzymowski discusses Cyberpunk 2077 and how being unafraid of change has been key to the studio’s success.

CD Projekt Red, Cyberpunk 2077, and Being Unafraid of Change

In the Edge article, which will see publication in November, the CD Projekt Red producer gives fan some sense of where the studio is at with development; “Right now our environment artists are populating a level with the assets,” he explains; “and they are not afraid of testing out new things. This is exactly what we need to stay open to, because personally I believe that The Witcher turned out that good – and why Cyberpunk will turn out really good – because we are not afraid of change.”

CD Projekt Red Producer Says Studio's Success is Thanks to Being Unafraid of Change

Certainly, moving from The Witcher to Cyberpunk 2077 is a very significant change indeed. Similarly, while the shift between genres is huge, the games also shift perspective, from third-person to first-person. Cyberpunk 2077 will introduce entirely new mechanics and systems, deviating massively from what appears in The Witcher games; “It takes a degree of determination, for sure,” continues Borzymowski; “From the very beginning we were saying, ‘Alright, this is huge, but this is what we want to aim for.’ As producers, we’re responsible for taking this vision and verifying the capability of the team and deciding if we have to change it structure-wise, or if we have to somehow change the content of the game to make it more flexible.”

According to the CD Projekt Red producer, Cyberpunk is bringing with it a whole new set of challenges for the studio, which is hardly surprising; “The Witcher 3 wasn’t less complex,” he explains; “but it was complex in a different way. When we were world-building you had those big open spaces, which still had to be filled out. It’s not like it was easier or cheaper to build all those beautiful forests and meadows, but it is more forgiving. If one tree is a bit off to the right, this is exactly how forests look. But if you put a building too far apart from a different one in the middle of a city, then this can’t really work, right? You have to fill this gap in between doing other things already. And you have to push everything.”