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Bloomberg: CD Projekt management to receive $4 to $6 million in bonuses from Cyberpunk's shoddy launch, staff between $5k to $20k
- Thread starter Samiya
- Start date
As some have mentioned this is not unusual. Not saying that makes it right, but executive bonus compensation schemes are generally a lot richer than those designed for "regular" employees.
What I find interesting is that the Board of Directors is entirely made up of CDPR executives. If I'm not mistaken, BOD's in the West (ie. North America) for publicly traded companies are required to have a majority of independent directors, who then typically decide on compensation and bonus targets etc., meaning CDPR execs decide their own compensation (as far as I can tell at least). Kind of a shitty way to organize a company when it comes to the little guy, and makes it easy to pump up bonuses even when the company underperforms (I too think the term "flop" is a tad aggressive considering sales were still stellar, if not as much as was expected).
What I find interesting is that the Board of Directors is entirely made up of CDPR executives. If I'm not mistaken, BOD's in the West (ie. North America) for publicly traded companies are required to have a majority of independent directors, who then typically decide on compensation and bonus targets etc., meaning CDPR execs decide their own compensation (as far as I can tell at least). Kind of a shitty way to organize a company when it comes to the little guy, and makes it easy to pump up bonuses even when the company underperforms (I too think the term "flop" is a tad aggressive considering sales were still stellar, if not as much as was expected).
Agree with others saying it's disingenuous to call it a flop. Critical flop? No. Commercial flop? No. A flop in hardcore gaming circles? Sure. I would hardly classify a game that sells 13 million copies a flop though.
Edit: That being said, yes scummy execs be scummy. Idk what to really do about it though. I didn't support the game and won't.
Edit: That being said, yes scummy execs be scummy. Idk what to really do about it though. I didn't support the game and won't.
This is how capitalism works. My bonus is in the $5k range and the management is in the multimillion dollar range every year and I do not work in the gaming industry. I am not condoning CD Projekt Red as a company, but this is standard stuff in the world.
It's right in the OP. The average estimated bonuses was supposed to be 34K. For the average to drop somewhere below 20K means Cyberpunk massively underperformed.
But even with this detail I think management was expecting too much. 13 million units even if that represents shipped numbers is still very healthy for Cyberpunk and firmly puts it in the same tier as Nintendo or Rockstar AAA.
Management was bullshitting themselves, their investors and their employees.
Wonder if Xbox will ever partner with them again. Also, 13 million was not a flop. Sure they could have sold more copies if there were no issues with the game, but isn't it cheap to develop games in Poland because of the government's incentives? I suspect they've made their money back and more. Now, their reputation? that has completely flopped.
Regarding the business, the Rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Happens everywhere, even my company.
Regarding the business, the Rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Happens everywhere, even my company.
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Selling under expectations is definitely a flop. They literally cancelled a giant multiplayer component/stand alone to the game which wouldn't have happened if the game was successful in their minds.
Also I feel like it'll unfortunately be the same song and dance next time they release a game (or honestly worse because Witcher 4 will probably have a lot of people making excuses on CDPR's behalf for their work culture).
Also I feel like it'll unfortunately be the same song and dance next time they release a game (or honestly worse because Witcher 4 will probably have a lot of people making excuses on CDPR's behalf for their work culture).
Management is getting millions in bonuses where the other staff is getting peanuts, and your only take is the authors use of the word flop.
Unbelievable.
I disagree with that line of logic. It didn't do as well as people expected? Sure. It still outsold a big majority of games immediately, that's still a stretch to call it a flop. Hell even critically, it deserved far worse than it got.
It's a PR mess for sure though, and a shit game that hasn't been fully patched yet.
After being underpaid and crunched to death for years, nothing says thank you like a ridiculous bonus.
I clearly remember the thread on ResetEra where plenty of people defended CD Project when the news about future huge bonuses broke some months ago.
At least we have the final proof that it was all PR and damage control. These ridiculous bonuses are just the cherry on top after the ridiculous salaries they're paid.
I clearly remember the thread on ResetEra where plenty of people defended CD Project when the news about future huge bonuses broke some months ago.
At least we have the final proof that it was all PR and damage control. These ridiculous bonuses are just the cherry on top after the ridiculous salaries they're paid.
I may be sounding like an ass here...
but and so what? Who doesn't do this? Like we ought to stop scapegoating CDPR... every single publisher out there does the exact same thing. Give bonuses in the thousand to their employees and keep bonuses in the millions for themselves. LIke when sony publishes an 8M in first year selling game... that's at least $400Min revenue... let's say the game cost $100M to make all costs associated with bringing it to market and they are making $300Min profit. What percentage of that does anyone here really think goes to the devs as bonuses.
and when those employees (devs) go tr up their own studio and maybe even become a publisher...they will do the exact same shito some new poor devs.
show a publisher that gives at least 50% of all profits from a game back o the devs or relax.
but and so what? Who doesn't do this? Like we ought to stop scapegoating CDPR... every single publisher out there does the exact same thing. Give bonuses in the thousand to their employees and keep bonuses in the millions for themselves. LIke when sony publishes an 8M in first year selling game... that's at least $400Min revenue... let's say the game cost $100M to make all costs associated with bringing it to market and they are making $300Min profit. What percentage of that does anyone here really think goes to the devs as bonuses.
and when those employees (devs) go tr up their own studio and maybe even become a publisher...they will do the exact same shito some new poor devs.
show a publisher that gives at least 50% of all profits from a game back o the devs or relax.
I'd definitely consider something that's nearly completely fell out of public consciousness as a flop, even if it sold 13 million at launch.
The Witcher 3 is 5+ years old and people still talk about it. Cyberpunk is a few months old and the only time people talk about it are when negative articles like this come out and you get responses like "lol I forgot this game even existed"
The game was definitely a flop.
The Witcher 3 is 5+ years old and people still talk about it. Cyberpunk is a few months old and the only time people talk about it are when negative articles like this come out and you get responses like "lol I forgot this game even existed"
The game was definitely a flop.
Honest question: What the fuck do the board members have to do in order NOT to get bonuses? It seems like no matter what is going on, they always get some. It's like, they say openly it's their fault and then go on to take millions...
That crunch topic on here was absolutely insanity at the time. Imagine working 16 hour days for months and getting a $5,000 bonus, it's insulting.
Staff bonuses wouldn't be higher if they had had a better launch they'd be hiring if execs, who already get paid a ton, weren't getting 4-6M bonuses.
like maybe 100-300k per exec and make sure every staff member gets even bigger bonuses?
CP2077 is the absolutely most recasting thing I've seen since they've gotten away with so many offending items (crunch, worker pay, trans portrayal, portrayal of miniorities, seizure issues with animations, and bug issues) that it really takes away a lot of my faith in the gaming public when we handwave companies like this.
I don't mean to offend anyone with that, but this situation just feels hopeless like we will never get any progress with how workers are treated and better representation in games.
like maybe 100-300k per exec and make sure every staff member gets even bigger bonuses?
CP2077 is the absolutely most recasting thing I've seen since they've gotten away with so many offending items (crunch, worker pay, trans portrayal, portrayal of miniorities, seizure issues with animations, and bug issues) that it really takes away a lot of my faith in the gaming public when we handwave companies like this.
I don't mean to offend anyone with that, but this situation just feels hopeless like we will never get any progress with how workers are treated and better representation in games.
OP
OP
Thanks for the correction, Jason. Would a mod please edit or update the title with the correct number? Apologies for the misreading
The owners of the company yeah are getting millions. So the real lesson is if people want to make money start your company, don't work for others. Risk vs reward. If a talented group of members want to break away and form their own studio I'm sure they could if they planned to. The only true change is the people being impacted making the change and not waiting for the employer. Should the employees in a fair world get more, yeah sure. But I would not expect their to be much change if any.
How would you describe a game that is in such bad shape to be removed from the biggest video game platform 2 weeks after release?
It was supposed to sell 20 millions at launch. It's a flop considering their expectations.
why do people defend rampant and obvious avarice by saying "welp, it happens everywhere! not surprising!". why is that? do you people respond to all injustice this way, or just when it concerns videogame companies?
because something happens all the time doesn't make it okay. it doesn't mean it isn't worth talking about. why do so many people shrug and defend the status quo when it's so obviously inhumane?
because something happens all the time doesn't make it okay. it doesn't mean it isn't worth talking about. why do so many people shrug and defend the status quo when it's so obviously inhumane?
Scummy execs being scum. I was an absolute tool and bought the game for PC and PS4/5...never regreted buying a game as much before. Witcher 3 was one of favourite games last gen, but CD Projekt fucked up majorly with this game...on a number of counts. The execs should be fired not get these bonuses, but this is the way capitalism works. They say shit rises to the top.
Ugh guys like there are plenty of valid reasons to hate CDPR but this news certainly isn't one of them. Name me one, just a single company that doesn't pay it's executives extremely high bonusses? This is completely normal practice. And don't forget, 20k is more than the average annual salary in Poland. For polish employees, that's A LOT
I would also like to see a situation where employees make more and execs less in relation, but that's a systemic issue
I would also like to see a situation where employees make more and execs less in relation, but that's a systemic issue
Broken.
In that case it's below expectations. But to be a flop you need disastrous sales... like 10-20% of expectations low. A flop in this industry usually leads to layoffs or studios in jeopardy. CDPR made absolute bank on Cyberpunk. It was not a flop.
Some aspects of the game like the city itself and some of the story and character work is really, REALLY good. The people responsible for those fantastic aspects of the game are probably the ones also getting the disappointing bonuses, while management that clearly fucked up gets the bigger ones. That sucks.
Yeah guys, other companies do it. Why should we care? It's normal!
$5-20k bonus is absolutely pathetic for a game that sold this much and took so many years to develop, further the idiot executives getting rewarded are responsible for poor management of the development and pushing out the game when it wasn't ready causing enormous anguish for the staff.
Correct .
This game had so much hype behind and everyone was thinking it's the next huge thing .
If it had launch how it was suppose to it would have been over 20 million already .
Instead it legs slow down to a crawl and the company has lost a ton of good will and more.
Wow, the game sold 13 million copies?
That's a lot, it's no gta but considering how broken the game is I'm shocked to find that out.
If it sold that much I'm not surprised the people at the top of the company is walking away with such a large chunk of the pie, it's fucked up but it's rear to see a majority of compensation going to the bottom and less to the top.
That's a lot, it's no gta but considering how broken the game is I'm shocked to find that out.
If it sold that much I'm not surprised the people at the top of the company is walking away with such a large chunk of the pie, it's fucked up but it's rear to see a majority of compensation going to the bottom and less to the top.
This isn't true at all.
Revenue for Q1 2021:
Expected
146.53M
Reported
192.97M
Surprise
31.70%
Earnings per share:
Expected
0.38
Reported
0.91
Surprise
139.47%
They absolutely blew past their projections.
Broken.
If i can sell a broken item 13+ million times it's not a flop imo. It's shitty that it happened and i don't think the board should get any bonuses after that shitshow but it wasn't a flop.
A flop would 've been only selling 3 million copies.
That's on the analysts. We here on ERA normally shit on such analysts from high above because they come up with such laughable expectations.
The game made it's own costs + marketing back + much more. They could've made over 3 games with he money they've made.
It's still shitty what they did but the expectations are coming from people we normally don't care about here. Please shit on CD Projekt Red, they deserve it, but we don't need to use expectations from analysts we're going to dismiss for the next game to piss on them.
Considering the failure of the launch was mainly a management issue, this is a fuckin terrible idea to allocate that much money to the people who fucked it up.
The bonus' to the devs are laughable. 5k is a joke for 3-4 years of work. I've seen devs out right buy condo's with their bonuses in the past.
Seriously. WTF.
The bonus' to the devs are laughable. 5k is a joke for 3-4 years of work. I've seen devs out right buy condo's with their bonuses in the past.
Seriously. WTF.
What's the difference between the two in this case? It's a flop selling a game only for two weeks and initiating a refund. And the bad press will affect upcoming projects and hires. The word is not defined for profits only.
THIS.
Absolutely fundamental question!
I think we can all agree that the managment side did parctically everything wrong in the developement of this game and it´s PR.
Can you image if you were a developer , a senior designer or team leader that got a large part of your job wrong consistetly for two years, where would you be after those two years? you would be jobless.
The compensation scheme in it´s allocation is unfortunately a "typical" aspect of this type of finance-capitalism in the age we are living.
This is why i vote and activly promote politicians who try to fight for a more equal distributuion of income.
It is a new type of a Gilded age which will harm the society and the saftey of communities.
We need legislation and not some voluntary act, like kotick did yeterday, which can then be reversed silently when is convinient.
Shitty management helped make a shitty game, I feel for the devs. If they got the time they needed and the management they deserve, then they could have made a special game.
Fuck this company though, never seen one destroy their rep so fast with all the transphobia, crunch and shitty game. The shitty game they could recover from rep wise, the rest of it? No chance, not with me.
Fuck this company though, never seen one destroy their rep so fast with all the transphobia, crunch and shitty game. The shitty game they could recover from rep wise, the rest of it? No chance, not with me.
