The Witcher 3 / CD Projekt Red
The development of The Witcher was a real challenge for CD Projekt Red — the developers literally slept under their desks.
20 years ago, the studio was just starting its journey, and developing a game was a «with an asterisk» task. During the development of the first part of The Witcher, the current CEOs of CD Projekt lived a completely different life than they do now. The studio was just gaining momentum, and, according to Adam Badowski, the work was exhausting:
«We often slept under our desks in the office and worked in chaos. The feeling of being an underdog was very motivating», — he recalls.
Their approach changed when the studio faced a crisis due to the problematic release of Cyberpunk 2077. Since then, the company has been striving to avoid developer exhaustion and new projects, including The Witcher 4 and the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077will be developed without excessive expectations. For example, the continuation of Ciri’s story should not be expected in the next two years.
Even 10 years after its release, The Witcher 3 is still quite popular among players and modders. In 2024, CD Projekt released a set of tools REDkit, which simplifies the creation of modifications. To achieve this, the developers have practically redesigned key parts of the RED Engine in 10 months. According to producer Oleg Shatulo, what works for internal developers may not work for modders. The studio has adapted the tools and added critical parameters, such as the «Projects»
But now CDPR has the fiscal year 2024 behind it, which has become one of its most successful years. For now, other studios fail or mass layoffsThese developers have record-breaking performance, despite not releasing a single new game last year. In 2024, the studio received almost $120 million in net profit, which was the third-best financial result in the company’s history.
The studio’s main revenue came from sales of The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077 expansion packs, and the Netflix series «Cyberpunk: Those who run on the edge», which has renewed interest in the game.