CD Projekt Red Is Laying Off Almost 10% Of Its Workforce

CD Projekt Red has laid off 100 people, citing a need to undergo “several deep transformations” as it reduces its workforce by 9%. These layoffs will happen over several months, with some employees departing the company by March 2024.

“After reshaping our development process and incorporating Agile methodologies, we’re now focusing on refining the shape of our team,” CD Projekt CEO Adam Kicinski said in a blog post. “To meet our own high expectations and ambitions to create the best role-playing games, we not only want to have the best people but also the right teams. What we mean by that is having teams that are built around our projects’ needs; teams that are more agile and more effective. At this point in time, we’re certain that for CD Projekt Red to grow, we need to be consistent in implementing that approach.”

According to Kicinski, CDPR is “overstaffed” and those staff members affected by the layoffs will receive a “comprehensive” severance package. “We want team members to have ample time to process and adjust to the change, and we’ve also made sure to offer everyone a comprehensive severance package,” Kincinski added.

This latest round of layoffs comes shortly after the announcement that Gwent’s remaining team members had been let go from the company after production ended on that game, while the Witcher game Project Sirius saw more than 25 people laid off after a “new framework” was implemented.

Currently, the studio has several major projects in development. Phantom Liberty, a major expansion for the game, arrives in September, work on a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel is underway, a new trilogy of Witcher games are in development, and Project Hadar is a new IP that is being developed internally at CDPR.