Standing as information that could be good or bad comes the news of Cyberpunk 2077 key devs moving on from CD Projekt Red. Although this information may sound dark and like the Cyberpunk game is facing more trouble, it could also mean good news, too.
According to publication site gamepressure.com we learn that four key developers who happened to be long standing members of CD Projekt Red have departed from the company, whilst development of a very anticipated video game titled Cyberpunk 2077 is still going on.
GamePressure went about looking through Mateusz Piaskiewicz, Derek Patterson, Ovidiu Traian Vasilescu, and Michal Stec LinkedIn profiles and found some rather interesting information.
Mateusz Piaskiewicz
For starters, we learn from the publication site that Mateusz Piaskiewicz, a former dev of Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops III, once had been Lead Level Designer of CD Projekt RED and has now moved on to work for Flying Wild Hog — the ones behind Shadow Warrior 2. This departure from CDPR can be traced back from the beginning of this month.
Derek Patterson
The site also makes mention of Derek Patterson, who happens to have departed from CDPR back in September of this year. Patterson was a Senior Gameplay Producer for Cyberpunk 2077, but he has moved on and now works for Techland. Patterson’s work can be traced back to Grand Theft Auto V and as recent as Red Dead Redemption II, which is slated to debut Q2 2018.
Ovidiu Traian Vasilescu
Another name that has moved on and away from CDPR in September was Project Manager Ovidiu Traian Vasilescu, who has moved on as a producer over at V11 STUDIO GAME. The so-called “experienced game designer” has worked for Ubisoft for many years, and is no longer with CDPR and Cyberpunk 2077.
Michal Stec
The last name on this list comes a person who is noted to be a “longtime CD Projekt RED veteran,” namely Michal Stec. He, Stec, for the last several months was a Senior Art Producer working on The Witcher 3 expansions and for Cyberpunk 2077. Just like the others, he too, departed from CDRP in September of the year.
The Good or Bad Through the Departures
I bet you’re thinking “oh, no! Development is halting once again, right?” Well, not necessarily. What this could mean is that the departed devs have met the end of their contract and are looking to pay bills and continue their job as a programmer/developer elsewhere, hence the occupation at other studios.
Given that CDPR has a lot of those positions featured in job listings on Twitter and the jobs section of their site, it’s likely that the above names finished what they were supposed to do and now moved on.
In addition to the above, we learn that 2018 will be the year of Cyberpunk 2077, meaning that assets and other features are shaping up to be shown off at the allotted time of mid-next year. This coincides with the 2019-2020 release date.
If I had to give a wild guess based on this information and the previous job listings, production is still going as planned and requires new heads to clean up some of the stuff that’s put in place by the now departed devs. Of course, the game isn’t complete, but it is in a state where six months from now it could likely be shown off in a surprise teaser trailer.
Remember, the above is a guesstimate and holds no weight, which means that development on Cyberpunk 2077 might be going sour or it could be on-track — resulting in the good or bad side of development. It’s also worth keeping in mind that the devs over at CDPR don’t abide by typical development protocols, meaning that they could be going about things in a messy way or doing things efficiently.
Cyberpunk 2077 is set to release for PC and the latest consoles when it is ready.
