When CD Projekt Red escaped „annihilation.” Studio’s CEO recalls the difficult moments of The Witcher trilogy’s creators

This month marks the 10th anniversary since CD Projekt Red released The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. In celebration, Michal Nowakowski, CEO of the Polish firm, shared insights about their tough journey in an interview with PC Gamer.

The developer often pointed to the year 2008 as significant, marking the outbreak of the global financial crisis. Consequently, some workers at the company expressed concern that they might need to close shop, despite the fact that the first highly successful Witcher series had been launched a year prior, in 2007. The initial release did not yet achieve the success level of its later installments.

Prior to 2011, specifically up until the launch of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, CD Projekt Red placed a strong emphasis on maintaining financial solvency. As Nowakowski put it, this was “a challenging phase for the company.

The early days were quite—for me, personally—focused on ‘How do we escape ‘annihilation?’

It’s common knowledge that despite challenging periods, the Polish studio has thrived and produced two successful titles – The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077. These games continue to generate recognition and revenue for CD Projekt Red today. At present, they are developing numerous new games, including The Witcher 4 and a follow-up to Cyberpunk.

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2025-05-27 15:01