Although Cyberpunk 2077 may have been fixed in the eyes of fans, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t continue to have numerous problems, primarily within the studio’s work culture. CD Projekt is a highly significant studio in Poland, but to reach where it is, especially during 2023, it has made decisions that haven’t been particularly favorable for its workers. Not to mention that crunch has been the norm throughout the development of Cyberpunk 2077. Therefore, a portion of its workers has had enough.
That’s why a group of CD Projekt workers have formed a union called PGWU, which stands for Polish Gamedev Workers Union. The name reflects that they have members from other game companies in Poland, not exclusively from CD Projekt, with the goal of improving conditions for all workers in the Polish gaming industry. Hence, they have decided not to focus solely on their own company but on the entire country.
One of the main reasons for this decision is that, in 2023 alone, CD Projekt has gone through three different phases of layoffs. In May, about twenty employees from The Molasses Flood, approximately half of the studio’s staff in Vancouver, were laid off, along with over thirty employees from CD Projekt Red associated with Gwent, the card game based on The Witcher, following the decision to discontinue further support for the game. Additionally, a third round of layoffs occurred in July when a 9% reduction in the workforce of CD Projekt Red was announced, resulting in the dismissal of around a hundred employees.
Although there are many more issues within the studio, PGWU highlighted in an interview with CD-ACTION that they believe unionizing is necessary to achieve better working conditions. They also hope that their example will encourage others in creative industries to dispel the myth that unionism is only for factories and heavy industries. Considering they have already joined OZZ IP, a syndicalist organization, it is expected that they will have the negotiating power to prevent these massive layoffs from happening as easily in the future and inspire others to do the same.
