Cyberpunk 2077 developer will require crunch ahead of November launch

Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red is reportedly implementing a mandatory crunch period ahead of the game’s November release date, according to Bloomberg. Employees will be required to work six-day work weeks — “your typical amount of work and one day of the weekend,” according to an email allegedly leaked from the Polish company.

Previously, CD Projekt Red promised that its employees wouldn’t have to “crunch” — that is, work grueling hours over a span of time to complete a game. However, in January, CD Projekt Red CEO Adam Kicinski admitted during an investor’s call that “some degree” of crunch would be necessary in completing the game. Cyberpunk 2077 has been delayed multiple times, moves that onlookers hoped would reduce crunch. The game is now slated for Nov. 19.

According to Bloomberg’s report, CD Projekt studio lead Adam Badowski sent an email to notify employees about the required crunch period.

“I take it upon myself to receive the full backlash for the decision,” Badowski wrote in the email. “I know this is in direct opposition to what we’ve said about crunch. It’s also in direct opposition to what I personally grew to believe a while back — that crunch should never be the answer. But we’ve extended all other possible means of navigating the situation.”

An employee also told Bloomberg that some workers have already been crunching for “more than a year.”

Update (Aug. 30): A CD Projekt Red spokesperson pointed Polygon to a tweet from Badowski, but provided no further comment.