Paweł Sasko, associate director of Cyberpunk 2 and designer at CD Projekt RED, has reacted to the hundreds of layoffs at Bungie. The developer says it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of how many game teams, projects and creators are being affected by the video game industry’s ongoing cuts.
It feels like the industry is collapsing: Bungie announced massive layoffs a few days ago, EA let go of a considerable number of employees in recent weeks, and Xbox is expected to undergo a business reboot in July that could involve the closure or sale of several studios. It is all bad news for the video game sector. It is understandable that some developers are afraid and that even important creative minds are despairing in an industry that shows mercy to no one.
CD Projekt RED Reacts to the Bad News in the Industry
A few days ago, the dismissal of 292 developers from Bungie was confirmed. One of the people who reacted to this negative news was Paweł Sasko, associate director of Cyberpunk 2 and designer at CD Projekt RED, who posted a message on X, formerly Twitter, that sums up the mood across much of the industry. “There are days when I feel like our industry is falling apart: every other day game teams and projects are being cut, to the point where it’s hard to keep up,” he wrote after news broke that Bungie had laid off 292 developers.
Sasko also took the opportunity to remind everyone that CD Projekt RED is still hiring for several projects, including The Witcher 4, Cyberpunk 2, and the new Hadar IP, inviting affected developers to review the company’s open job postings. The Polish executive’s message carries particular weight because he witnessed CD Projekt RED lay off 9% of its staff in 2023. The move triggered a collective response in the following months, with workers forming a union within CD Projekt RED in order to protect themselves.
All of this brings to mind the words of Brenda Romero, an industry legend who left her mark on the Wizardry series and described this era months ago in an interview with Game Industry as “more catastrophic” than the infamous video game crash of 1983. The numbers support her assessment. It is enough to look at the projected layoffs between 2023 and 2026, which can be tracked on Game Industry Layoffs. The difference is that the industry was small and fragile back then, whereas today it is one of the biggest entertainment sectors in the world.
Source: 3DJuegos
