Over the past few days, you may have heard about the crunch situation at CD Projekt Red in regards to Cyberpunk 2077! However, as time went on more and more conflicting information has come out and I wanted to discuss them in laymen’s terms.
So a few days (week) ago, Jason Schreier, a writer for Bloomberg wrote an article in which he highlighted that CD Projekt Red broke its promise of not forcing its employees to crunch, and stating that CD Projekt Red sent out an email asking employees to prepare for a 6-day crunch up until Cyberpunk 2077 release! Once that article was released, it lit ablaze a wildfire of discussion and argument across the internet. Debates ranging for and against CD Projekt Red’s crunch crisis.
What’s interesting here is the conflicting information that has now come to light from The Gamer Informer show podcast, which sites that employees were asked whether they’d like to delay the game or take the crunch option, with the majority opting for the crunch. This changes the tone that Jason created, which implied that the CD Projekt Red never gave them a choice. Now, it all comes down to who you wanna believe because frankly, both could easily be right! Anyone that has work in any workforce knows that not everyone will find a problem with a particular issue.
The topic of crunch has always been a controversial and dynamic debate, dynamic being that it depends on who you ask! Some see crunch as evil and inhumane, while others view it as fine so long as all parties involved are properly compensated! Yes, CD Projekt Red did lie, but like anyone knows, not everything usually goes according to plan. Sometimes things don’t pan out and often forces people to take back what they’ve previously said. I’m not taking sides ore defending CD Projekt Red, so looking at it from a realistic point of view!
There are clear nuances to this issue, and not to mention that labor laws and cultures are different in Poland and it could be that Jason Schreier may have had good intentions but jumped the gun which is the assumption that CD Projekt Red is subjugating its worker to hellish hours of crunch! Crunch happens in all aspects of the gaming sphere, so the fact that CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 is catching heat is only a result of being the most popular and anticipated title coming out soon. Just to note, I am not condoning crunch in any capacity, just highlighting that there’s more to this than what we’ve been present and I’m showing you guys both sides!
