Cyberpunk 2077 Developers Working Overtime to Meet Deadlines, but Is It Worth It?

Cyberpunk 2077 is the most anticipated game of the year. It is CD Projekt Red’s most ambitious project yet and has already won the ‘Best RPG Game of the Year’ at Gamescom 2020. Although, the game has been delayed twice due to various reasons, one of them being the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now it seems the team is all set for a global release on November 19, without any delays. But, amidst all this anticipation, reports suggest that the developers have been working 6-days a week to meet the deadline. This makes one wonder if it is worth it?

According to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schrier, CD Projekt Red has issued a company-wide mandatory crunch to meet the November 19 deadline. He tweeted, “Many developers on Cyberpunk 2077, one of the most hotly anticipated games of 2020, have been working overtime hours for months if not years now. But this call for six-day work weeks, “mandatory” crunch, directly reneges on what CDPR’s bosses told me last year.”

He also mentioned that CDPR had approached him for an interview last year.

“Last year, the bosses of CD Projekt Red approached me for an interview. They wanted to announce that for Cyberpunk 2077, they would be avoiding mandatory crunch. This week, they sent out an email to staff announcing studio-wide mandatory crunch.”

Head of Studio Adam Badowski’s email to CDPR employees for Cyberpunk 2077 development

Head of Studio at CDPR, Adam Badowski, also mentioned that he is ready to take full responsibility for this decision. According to Bloomberg (paywall), the company’s email read, “I take it upon myself to receive the full backlash for the decision.

“I know this is in direct opposition to what we’ve said about crunch. It’s also in direct opposition to what I personally grew to believe a while back – that crunch should never be the answer. But we’ve extended all other possible means of navigating the situation.”

Adam Badowski issues a statement upon receiving backlash

Although, this has definitely created an uproar in the gaming community where questions were raised about whether ‘crunch’ is justified. Badowski also put out a statement in response to Jason’s article on Twitter, justifying this decision.

But even though the employees may be compensated fairly, it raises a lot of questions. Should crunch be acceptable? Is this how the entire game development industry works? Is it acceptable to be working overtime to meet deadlines, especially during a pandemic? All these questions have put a lot of things into perspective for everyone.

Consequently, this bit of news has left the internet divided. While many argue that mandatory crunch has an adverse effect on the mental and physical being of employees, some argue that if employees are being fairly compensated for it, it’s justified.

Some fans are also calling for the game to be delayed, as they don’t want the developers to be overworked. While this is a great gesture, this still doesn’t answer the question.

Cyberpunk 2077 may be the biggest game in CDPR’s history. But this bit of news comes at a time when the hype is beyond imaginable, and could potentially damage the game’s reputation. The game will release on November 19, but given the current circumstances, there could be some unforeseen developments in the near future.