CD Projekt Red Boss Downplays Cyberpunk 2077 Crunch, Then Apologizes

With Cyberpunk 2077 suffering a 21-day delay possibly due to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One ports, issues with crunch have become a hot-button topic at Polish studio CD Projekt Red. On a recent investor's call, joint CEO Adam Kicinski said the extra crunch period is "not that bad--and never was." Kicinski has since walked this sentiment back in an email to staff.

On the investor's call, Kicinski said that some members of the development team have been "crunching heavily," but most have finished their work. Kicinski also noted that the issue of crunch is "not that bad" because some employees are happy with the extra three weeks.

"Regarding crunch. Actually, it's not that bad--and never was," Kicinski said. "Of course it's a story that has been picked up by the media, and some people have been crunching heavily, but a large part of the team is not crunching at all since they have finished their work; it's mostly about Q&A and engineers, programmers--but it's not that heavy. Of course, it will be extended a bit, but we have feedback from the team; they're happy about the extra three weeks, so we don't see any threats regarding crunch."