8 Controversies That Have ALREADY Hurt Cyberpunk 2077

This is a controversy which is by no means unique to CD Projekt Red, but more of an overarching issue in the games industry overall. In fact, alongside microtransactions and loot boxes, it’s arguably the biggest controversy facing gaming today.

Crunch is the name given to the mandatory overtime at the end of a game’s development cycle as the pressure of release deadlines increase. CDPR are far from the only company to use such a practise (Rockstar have come under fire for it before most notably), but they were heavily criticised in the wake of crunch for The Witcher III.

Naturally then, they’ve been asked about crunch in regards to Cyberpunk 2077, and their response has been a little sketchy.

CDPR’s co-founder Marcin Iwinski and studio head Adam Badowski have admitted in a joint statement that a crunch time approach is ‘not for everyone’, but believe it is worth it, and ‘just require[s] a lot of faith, commitment and spirit’.

It sounds like typical industry speak where developers are expected to forgo sane working hours and their own mental health for the good of the game. There will apparently be a ‘more humane’ approach to crunch time on Cyberpunk, but some remain unconvinced.