GamesAction RpgCyberpunk 2077: Phantom LibertyCyberpunk 2077 sequel lead says avoiding crunch is key to keeping studios afloat: “Sustainability is incredibly important"When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesAction RpgCyberpunk 2077: Phantom LibertyCyberpunk 2077 sequel lead says avoiding crunch is key to keeping studios afloat: “Sustainability is incredibly important"When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty’s quest director and the associate game director of the Cyberpunk sequel, Paweł Sasko, has been talking about the importance of sustainability in game development, and the benefits of not overworking teams to the point of crunch.
CD Projekt RED’s 2020 action-RPG Cyberpunk 2077 had a shaky launch, and aturbulent developmentthat, understandably, was said to have had a"significant” impact on the team’s morale. According to an interview withAftermath, this caused some employees toleave the company, causing the studio to rethink its development processes. Thankfully, Sasko believes that the studio changed for the better during the making of the Phantom Liberty expansion, to the point where developers are now able to head into new projects without going throughextended periods of overtime – or crunch– first.
“Sustainability is incredibly important,” Sasko says. “To be able to, when you are finishing up a project, have a team in a state where they haven’t been doing crunch or overtime or anything, that they are able to go into the production of the next thing, which means delivering something earlier, which means having a product you can sell as a studio, which means having the money to sustain. That requires your production to be structured in a way where it does not require those spikes, those moments when suddenly there’s an all-hands-on-deck approach.”
It all makes perfect sense, of course. Crunch has long been considered one of the biggest issues plaguing the games industry due to the exhausting detrimental effect it has on developers, and it’s easy to see how it’d be hard for devs to work to their best ability on new projects after facing it. Burnout is also a major problem here – in fact, CRPG veteran Josh Sawyer recently said that it’s"replaced crunch as the primary hazard of the game industry.”
(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)
In CD Projekt RED’s case, to move away from its “old-fashioned” methods, the studio created content teams, which saw “a quest designer, cinematic designer, open-world designer, writer, QA, environment artists, VFX artists, SFX artists” all collaborating on specific pieces of content together. Sasko describes this as having “22 different specialties in one pod,” all with a shared goal such as making a certain quest. “And then when we were reviewing that content as directors, we were always looking at it together, as a team,” he adds.
He explains that, to an extent, this process saw the studio “move the decision making to the team,” too. Essentially, developers were allowed the freedom to make many of the choices surrounding their goal, so long as they remained within certain boundaries such as the wider story and theme, which were clearly defined throughout.
Later in the interview, Sasko says that this process used in Phantom Liberty’s development irons out “bottlenecks” in production. He adds: “If the team is making the right decisions, and then the leads and directors look at it and are like ‘This is very good quality,’ then it’s the best possible situation. You don’t have to change anything, course correct, or remove or add anything. The team did their job."
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Previously, CD Projekt RED’s engineering director of management and audio, Colin Walder, said that going forward, “once the team sees a genuine effort to prevent crunch – that’s when trust and morale start to rebuild.” So, all in all, it really does sound like the studio has a more positive outlook when it comes to avoiding crunch in the future – let’s just hope that continues to be the case in practice.
If you want more Cyberpunk vibes in your life, be sure to check out our recommendations for10 games like Cyberpunk 2077.
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2
Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
3
Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
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Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
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2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
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4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5
Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
1Squid Game season 2 review: “Secures its place as one of the best shows on television right now”
1Squid Game season 2 review: “Secures its place as one of the best shows on television right now”
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2Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
2Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
2
Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
3Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
3Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
3
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4Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
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4
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5Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
5Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
5
Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”