CD Projekt CEO dismisses outlandish DEI claims

CD Projekt co-CEO Michal Nowakowski debunks the new DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) reports surrounding the Witcher and Cyberpunk developer.

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A new video from YouTuber Endymion makes some pretty bold claims for games companies like Ubisoft and CD Projekt, predicated on the ongoing DEI controversies--whether real or embellished--that continue wracking the industry.

But that hasn't stopped key executives from coming in to squash some of the talk. Recently, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot told investors that the company is focused on interactive entertainment and isn't interested on igniting controversy. Now videos like this one have prompted CD Projekt's management to also shrug off the claims.

In the video, Endymion makes the following claims about CD Projekt, saying that "diversity hires" are acting as roadblocks, forcing the developer to outsource a lot of its development.

"Another source told me that CD Projekt RED is in absolute chaos right now.

"Apparently lots of senior talent has already left CD Projekt RED, for example, the director of The Witcher 3 has long left the studio, and they've already created their own studio with their own new game as well."

"Apparently developers like Warhorse studios, who made Kingdom Come Deliverance, have been poaching talent from CD Projekt RED like crazy these past few years.

"And I was told that problems that are plaguing Ubisoft, like diversity hires, are also starting to damage CD Projekt RED as well. According to another 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.

"I was told that the reason the new Witcher is using Unreal Engine instead of the RED Engine that previous games did is largely because most of the senior talent that worked there understood the RED Engine aren't with CD any more, and Unreal is more of a one-size-fits all engine."

These statements prompted CD Projekt co-CEO Michal Nowakowski to jump in and make a response of his own on Twitter.

Nowakowski says that CD Projekt hires based on talent alone, and also systematically breaks down each of the claims:

Seems we live in times where anyone can record complete nonsense and make a story out of it.

• CDPR talent leaving? 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, can we stop looking for conspiracy theories and go back to making cool stuff?

CD Projekt has currently started pre-production on The Witcher 4 and full production is set to start soon.