Summary
CD Projekt REDhas revealed why the developer plans to continue focusing on AAA open-world RPGs for the foreseeable future. As the developer behind bothThe WitcherandCyberpunkseries,CD Projekt REDis among the most prestigious names working in the RPG genre at the moment.
AfterThe Witcher 3was a massive critical and commercial hitback in 2015, CD Projekt RED became one of the developers whose games, for many fans of RPGs, were a must-play.Although the original twoWitchergames were successful in their own right, it wasn’t until the third game in the trilogy that the developer really increased its status. The launch ofCyberpunk 2077was met with mixed responses - the content of CD Projekt RED’s most recent title was largely lauded, although the technical state in which it was released faced plenty of criticism. After years of updates, the consensus onCyberpunk 2077is much more positive, the sci-fi RPG standing tall alongside the studio’s best work.
In a recent episode of the AnsweRED Podcast, CD Projekt RED co-founder Marcin Iwiński and joint-CEO Adam Badowski spoke about whythe studio’s upcoming gameswill focus on AAA open-world RPGs. Iwiński began, “We cannot do so many things we would love to do, we are tempted to do. We tried, and it didn’t work out. We have to focus on what we are good at and really put 100% into it.” Badowski hopped in to add his own take, saying, “Everything is in our strategy. We’re going to develop AAA RPG open-world narrative-driven games and this is our, let’s say, niche. So the focus is there.”
CD Projekt RED Describes AAA Open-World RPGs as Its ‘Niche’
The back-and-forth between the two continued, with Iwiński adding, “When you’re growing, it’s hard because there are all these temptations. You know, these people are doing this stuff online and it’s so cool, and we love to play it and you think ‘okay, no, let’s take a deep breath and come back to what we’re doing.’ Because if we spread ourselves too thin, we’ll not deliver.” During the insightful interview, Badowski also revealedCD Projekt RED’s games have to add to previous iterationsgoing forward, giving some insight into the studio’s approach to development.
It’s interesting to think that CD Projekt RED could have tackled games in other genres, although ultimately, it makes sense why a more focused approach has allowed the developer to hone its craft over the years. In theory, this should result in a better end product for gamers to enjoy.
CD Projekt RED is hard at work on the next two entries in theWitcherandCyberpunkfranchises, and it’s fair to say that both will fall into the category of AAA open-world RPGs. It was recently confirmed thatCyberpunk 2has entered pre-production, an exciting update that should hopefully see development continue to ramp up over the coming months. Neither title has a release date yet, but it’s great to have these two games to look forward to.
