"We slept under our desks and lived in chaos": Before the Witcher 3 became an RPG phenomenon, CDPR's CEOs had a tough time making the original game

The Witcher 3 is a beloved RPG juggernaut - but at the start of the trilogy, CDPR's now-CEOs lived a much less glamorous life than they do now.

We've heard countless stories about how many in the games industry have worked ridiculous hours, like the touted 100-hour work weeks during the development of Red Dead Redemption 2. Even veterans of the industry like Hideo Kojima are feeling the effects of it, and in more extreme cases – like Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai – some developers have even developed injuries from overworking.

While the problem is seemingly getting better now that people are talking about it. A Naughty Dog dev said The Last of Us Part 1 was made without crunch after the studio's practices during the development of The Last of Us Part 2 were heavily reported on. CD Projekt Red is no stranger to this. CD Projekt's CEOs Michał Nowakowski and Adam Badowski spoke to XYZ (translated via Google), and during the interview talked about what the studio was like 20 years ago (which would've been during the development of the first The Witcher game).

Nowakowski said, "Nostalgia is treacherous – it paints everything in rose-colored colors." Badowski added, "I recently reevaluated my romantic approach to the past," saying, "We often slept under our desks in the office and worked in chaos. The feeling of being an underdog was very motivating." The duo both said that this was partly in an effort to make CD Projekt into the juggernaut it is today, with Nowakowski recalling, "We flew to London for a very important meeting. We reported to the reception desk, and through the wall we could hear our interlocutor telling the secretary to tell him he was out. That doesn’t happen to us anymore."

Following the Cyberpunk 2077 launch fiasco, the studio seems to be making steps to avoid crunch for future games, with staff from both The Witcher 4 and the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 sequel saying that avoiding overworking is a priority in the development of those games.

Elsewhere, some former CD Projekt developers unveiled their new indie game inspired by PS1 horror games like Resident Evil.