According to CD Projekt Red CEO Michał Nowakowski, the Poland-based studio behind The Witcher series and Cyberpunk 2077 pays absolutely no mind to the concepts of corporate-backed ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ in their hiring process.

But curiously, the studio’s own website says otherwise.

Geralt (Doug Cockle) holds back the Striga in The Witcher: Enhanced Edition (2008), CD Projekt Red
Nowakowski, who currently serves as CD Projekt Red’s joint-CEO alongside Adam Badowski, offered this alleged insight into his company’s operations in response to an October 9th video from YouTuber Endymion.

Therein, the YouTuber alleged, per information relayed to him from a supposed insider source, “CD Projekt Red is in absolute chaos right now based on who actually is still working there that used to work on the previous games.”

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“Apparently lots of senior talent has already left CD Projekt Red,” he continued. “For example, the director of The Witcher 3 has long left the studio and they’ve already created their own stuydio with their own new game as well. Apparently places like Warhorse Studios, the makers of Kingdom Come Deliverance, they have actually been poaching talent from CD Projket Red like crazy these past few years, and I was told that the problems that are plaguing Ubisoft, like diversity hires, are also starting to damage and ruin CD Projekt Red as well.”

“According to that other source, CD Projekt has begun to rely heavily on outsourcing to contractors to help with their games because the new talent that they have is nowhere near where they need them to be right now,” said Endymion. “I was told the reason why the next Witcher is using Unreal Engine instead of the Red Engine that previous games did is largely because most of the senior talent that worked and understood the Red Engine are not at CD anymore and Unreal is more of a one-size-fits-all engine that many devs are familiar with these days.”

“As I am told, CD Projekt Red right now is a very tough spot and they’re apparently hoping that their pedigree is going to carry these games to millions in sales,” he added, going on to personally opine, “I truly hope whatever comes from the next Witcher or Cyberpunk that it isn’t a repeat of 2077 launch cuz they can’t afford another disaster like that again.”

Solomon Reed (Idris Elba) makes his way into Night City in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (2023), CD Projekt Red

Eventually taking notice of Endymion’s video, Nowakowski would reply to the YouTuber’s allegations on October 11th, roughly two days after the video’s premiere.

Taking to his personal Twitter account, the studio CEO asserted, “Seems we live in times where anyone can record complete nonsense and make a story out of it.”

“CDPR talent leaving?” he asked. “We have the lowest rotation of people in recent years. DEI-driven recruitment? We hire based on merit and talent alone, just as we make games driven by artistic vision alone. Why did we choose UE? Because it enables us to work on our games more efficiently and we remain cutting edge tech-wise. The Witcher 3’s director left? Well, yeah, more than 2 years ago.”

“Now,” he ultimately concluded, “can we stop looking for conspiracy theories and go back to making cool stuff?”
Archive Link Michał Nowakowski (@michalnowakow) via Twitter
However, despite Nowakowski’s adamant denial that the studio does not engage with such ‘DEI-driven’ hiring practices, it should be noted that CD Projekt Red’s own website features a giant section describing both their Diversity and Inclusion initiatives as well as their overall ESG goals.

To this end, in the sub-section regarding the company’s ‘Material sustainability issues‘, CD Projekt Red states that one of their ‘Social Pillars’ is “strengthening the DEI culture at CD Projekt red by, among others, fostering inclusive leadership”.

Further their ‘Business and Ethics Standards’ literature also explicitly notes that the company follows the United Nations’ ‘Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights‘, a set of guidelines which outright states “These Guiding Principles should be implemented in a non-discriminatory manner, with particular attention to the rights and needs of, as well as the challenges faced by, individuals from groups or populations that may be at heightened risk of becoming vulnerable or marginalized, and with due regard to the different risks that may be faced by women and men.”
CD Projekt Red’s social goals, as listed on the ‘Material Sustainability Issues’ section of their official website.`
At current, CD Projekt Red is currently working on a number of projects, including a number of new The Witcher titles, a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, and a new IP currently codenamed ‘Hadar’.

However, none of these titles have yet received an official release date.