Right now Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher developer CD Projekt hosted its fiscal yr 2023 earnings convention, and supplied attention-grabbing details about its video games and enterprise.
The livestreamed convention featured joint Chief Govt Officer Michał Nowakowski, Chief Monetary Officer Piotr Nielubowicz, and Chief Technique Officer Adam Kiciński.
Since its launch, the Cyberpunk 2077 franchise has generated 3 Billion PLN (Polish złoty) in cumulative income together with the growth Phantom Liberty. That is roughly $752 million on the present trade price.
Beneath you’ll be able to try a slide summarizing the video games the CD Projekt has within the pipeline and their state.
We study that the sport code-named Polaris (the brand new mainline The Witcher Recreation) is CD Projekt’s most-developed undertaking in the meanwhile. It is nonetheless in pre-production and can enter the total manufacturing section within the second half of the yr.
Later within the Q&A, we heard that we should not anticipate “The Witcher 3 in new clothes.” Whereas the builders are constructing on the shoulders of what was completed earlier than and on the learnings it generated, it will embody new gameplay components and new mechanics that we have not seen within the earlier video games.
Sirius, the Witcher sport in improvement at The Molasses Flood is now within the early pre-production section. Later within the Q&A, we heard that that is the second most-developed undertaking for the corporate in the meanwhile.
Canis Majoris, the Witcher remake in improvement at Idiot’s Principle continues to be within the conceptual face. We already knew that it is being developed from the bottom up in Unreal Engine 5.
Orion, the brand new Cyberpunk 2077 sport, it is presently within the conceptual section supervised by seasoned builders who labored on Cyberpunk 2077 and Phantom Liberty. The workforce in Boston engaged on the sport can be hiring extra builders with AAA expertise.
The brand new IP code-named Hadar has a workforce laying the muse for it. Work is steadily progressing and the workforce is getting greater.
We study that the entire variety of builders working at CD Projekt is now at 627. The workforce engaged on the upkeep of Cyberpunk 2077 has shrunk significantly to 17 builders, and later within the Q&A, the executives talked about that this quantity is ample as the sport has reached a state that CD Projekt is blissful about.
The workforce engaged on Polaris has now reached 403 builders, passing its goal measurement to enter the manufacturing section.
We additionally discover that the variety of builders engaged on Sirius has not modified, whereas we study that 47 builders are presently engaged on Orion and 20 on Hadar.
The “Shared Companies” workforce does what it says on the workforce and supplies companies to varied groups with out being a part of any, together with localization, UX, and extra. In the mean time, half of this workforce is engaged on Polaris, however this proportion will fluctuate.
Talking of financials, 2023 was the corporate’s second-best yr ever by way of income, on prime of the second consecutive yr of progress. Income was up 29% year-on-year, whereas web revenue was up 39% year-on-year.
Beneath you’ll be able to try a video with Nielubowicz offering a abstract of the outcomes.
Apparently, we hear that not solely is CD Projekt contemplating licensing out its IPs to third-party companions for the creation of cellular video games, however they’re additionally pursuing conversations with potential companions on the subject. But, they don’t have anything to announce in the meanwhile.
We additionally hear a remark about the usage of generative AI in improvement. Based on the executives, it might probably match the idea of not having “gigantic groups engaged on video games.” The developer prefers to keep away from groups that change into “too enormous” and persist with 400-500 members.
As such, enhancing the capabilities of those builders with AI is outlined as a “nice alternative” and suits CD Projekt’s technique. That being mentioned, the developer would not anticipate to shrink its groups due to AI to chop prices.
