CD Projekt Red boss Adam Badowski recently addressed concerns of mandatory crunch on Cyberpunk 2077 by announcing that 10% of the company's annual profit for 2020 will be split directly among the team.
It was recently revealed that CD Projekt Red has ordered mandatory six-day weeks for all of its staff in the run-up to Cyberpunk 2077, which is scheduled to launch on November 19, 2020. For those who haven't been following Cyberpunk 2077's pre-launch trajectory, this stands in direct contrast to previous promises that mandatory crunch would not factor into development.
Badowski responded to this report by posting a statement on Twitter, which you can check out for yourself below.
"These last six weeks are our final sprint on a project we've all spent much of our lives on," Badowski writes. "Something we care for deeply. The majority of the team understands that push, especially in light of the fact we've just sent the game to cert and every day brings us visibly closer to shipping a game we want to be proud of.
"This is one of the hardest decisions I've had to make, but everyone is well compensated for every extra hour they put in. And, like in recent years, 10% of the annual profit our company generates in 2020 will be split directly among the team."
This comes in the wake of a statement from last year when Badowski, alongside CD Projekt Red co-founder Marcin Iwiński, stated that the crunch on Cyberpunk 2077 would be more "humane" than it was for The Witcher 3's development.
Obviously this doesn't mean that the crunch culture surrounding Cyberpunk 2077 has been put to an end — instead, it implies that the mandatory six-day weeks will persist, and that the company's promise to deliver 10% of its annual earnings to its development team still stands.
Cyberpunk 2077 is due to launch on November 19, 2020. It will be playable on PC, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Google Stadia.