CD Projekt Red is one of the most popular developers in the industry, thanks to their impeccable work with titles such as Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3. The Polish developer studio, a subsidiary of CD Projekt, has also gained some success with its spinoff titles, such as Gwent, the popular card game from The Witcher games.
With many projects in the pipeline, such as the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 and various entries in The Witcher universe, the studio is all set to deliver again.
The studio’s then-CEO and current Chief Strategy Officer, Adam Kiciński, was recently interviewed by the Polish media website Parkiet. Kiciński stated that the company has no plans to stop its first-party functioning and list itself for an acquisition deal by any prominent gaming publishers.
CD Projekt Red’s CEO Statement on the Company’s Future
As mentioned, the studio’s former CEO spoke to the media outlet Parkiet recently, and the conversation offered many insights into how the studio sees its future after the success of its latest titles. Since the company works independently without a parent company overseeing it, the question of how it plans to scale was also raised.
The studio’s Chief Strategy Officer had this to say on the possibility of being acquired by a larger studio. Since the original interview was in Polish, readers should note that the following excerpt is a translation:
We are not interested in including us in a larger subject. We’ve worked our whole lives for the position we have now. And we believe that in a few years we will be even bigger and even stronger.
The studio has come a long way since it began 29 years ago. Since then, there have been many such moments where the studio has had to face tough times, as mentioned by Kiciński in the interview. The CSO stated that challenging times for the studio have served as learnings and have prepared it to create buffers for sustenance. The former CEO also stated that the studio’s strategy is well thought out and doesn’t need to approach any other entity for funds.
While the Polish game studio has been independent since it began, it has acquired other studios instead of merging under a giant gaming studio umbrella. The studio owns The Molassess Flood studio and Canadian Digital Scapes, now CD Projekt Red Vancouver.
If the company continues to take such leaps with its titles and create inspiring games, it can scale to the level of the world’s biggest self-publishing video game studio. The studio’s chances of reaching that milestone are also increased because it focuses on quality instead of quantity. For example, its recent titles, Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3, were spaced out five years apart. Before this, The Witcher 2 and 3 were spaced four years apart.
The fact that the studio has no plans of losing its independent status also entails that its originality won’t get trampled under pressure from parent companies. The studio and its executives can work on original plans without waiting for a green light from the owner.
It is also undoubtedly good news that the studio doesn’t plan to offer any of its equity to larger companies because if previous similar deals are any indication, it has serious consequences. For example, Embracer Group recently acquired several studios, many of which were shut down, thanks to an aggressive restructuring scheme after a 2 billion dollar deal went south.
Embracer has even acquired and shut down studios before giving them a chance to ship their first title. Campfire Cabal is one such example. The company has also closed studios like Free Radical Design and Volition earlier. In addition, it sold studios like Gearbox as damage control.
At their core, video games are a form of art, one of the most enticing, engrossing, and interactive forms of art. While no company wants to endure losses with its creations, things tend to go downhill when video games are only viewed as projects companies can profit from instead of experiences delivered to the user. Quality is often lost in a race for profits and numbers in the game world, and fans are happy to see CDPR isn’t giving in to acquisition efforts
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