And isn't their next game the multiplayer version of Cyberpunk? So it's not going to be easy to brush off the bad press of Cyberpunk when it will be the same IP
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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
Shit folks have gotten bonuses while a company is falling into bankruptcy
company: we sold 10+ millions
analyst: it's a flop
company: we made money
analyst: no it's a flop
company: we even have bonus for staffs, not just management
analyst: I SAID IT'S A FLOP
analyst: it's a flop
company: we made money
analyst: no it's a flop
company: we even have bonus for staffs, not just management
analyst: I SAID IT'S A FLOP
They're releasing patches and are releasing the next-gen version later this year. The game will work as it should've worked at launch. Hell, most people didn't even use their right to refund the game. Only like 3% did.
People will forget and CD Projekt will release at least 2 big expansions. They have years to fix this mess and get people back on their side.
The next full game will be released within near perfect condition. Testers will have weeks to play it, streamers will be allowed to show their own footage days before the launch, etc. They'll do everything in their power to get people back on their side. I would bet money on that.
I wouldn't be shocked if they're going as far as releasing the first expansion for free to users who bought the main game at launch.
So the people who severely damaged the game are the ones who get to profit greatly while the people who worked inhumane hours receive breadcrumbs (and are essentially being punished for the decision those who are getting rich off of the game made). It makes your stomach churn.
Then again, this kind of thing is so expected that the majority of people in this thread are more interested in having a semantical argument over the word "flop" than discussing it. Horrific wage disparity and worker exploitation have clearly become banal at this point. We just expect to be screwed.
Then again, this kind of thing is so expected that the majority of people in this thread are more interested in having a semantical argument over the word "flop" than discussing it. Horrific wage disparity and worker exploitation have clearly become banal at this point. We just expect to be screwed.
Absolutely. The people making decisions about these bonuses are the same people receiving the bonuses. As long as they're getting paid they don't give a shit about how the game did.
Once every 5-6 years though? The average is also boosted because of project managers getting 100k+. For your average dev its 5k to 20k.
Really? Doesn't that mean all over projects are going to be a long time until release which means they are essentially going to have to relay on that 13 million copies money which is unlikely to have a long tail for even longer?
Why does everyone assume that management, leads and head creatives do nothing?
Why are people saying that $5k-$34k bonuses make CDPR a shit company? (there are other reasons they may be, but any bonus plus your wage is great IMO)
For context. I have crunched all the time making CG animation and stills, I am a lead at my company and I am paid a good wage. Very rarely have I seen any type of bonus in my 15 years for crunching and THAT is disappointing at times. Are there any interviews with longtime, mid-level employees that aren't mad?
Why are people saying that $5k-$34k bonuses make CDPR a shit company? (there are other reasons they may be, but any bonus plus your wage is great IMO)
For context. I have crunched all the time making CG animation and stills, I am a lead at my company and I am paid a good wage. Very rarely have I seen any type of bonus in my 15 years for crunching and THAT is disappointing at times. Are there any interviews with longtime, mid-level employees that aren't mad?
That is still amazing. Imagine if Coke products got pulled from walmart.
Well that's shady as fuck then, the people making these decisions should be the first to fall on their sword financially.
You're making a lot of assumptions about the quality of future updates...
Removed from PSN, reputation tarnished for years and memes for months.
I've played for fifty hours and liked most of it, got two endings. But it was a constant neverending mess and still is, on all platforms and especially old gen.
It's a goddamned flop. It is a moral flop, there's your semantics, cause the managment still got the millions, and more.
I've played for fifty hours and liked most of it, got two endings. But it was a constant neverending mess and still is, on all platforms and especially old gen.
It's a goddamned flop. It is a moral flop, there's your semantics, cause the managment still got the millions, and more.
I would call their (or analysts) expectations the bigger issue then. The game underperformed expectations yes, but the expectations were not realistic to begin with and were a pipe dream in order to justify the extreme investment (both financially and employee) they made on the game.
It was obviously a poorly handled launch and had many issues during development, but unless the game is in jeopardy of bankrupting them I would not call it a flop.
'Underperformance' or 'didn't meet expectations' is an absolute understatement. What else would you call a game that was removed from the biggest gaming store at launch — and still isn't being sold there? Also, that gaming store offered everyone refunds.
Those devs crunched for years and had their reputations as a studio completely destroyed because of the management — all for a 20k bonus. Gross.
Those devs crunched for years and had their reputations as a studio completely destroyed because of the management — all for a 20k bonus. Gross.
These execs showed an utter lack of ability to faithfully represent a product they were launching, to manage a crisis, lost their nerve and threw a platform holder under the bus in the process, while damaging their brand. Enjoy your bonus, guys.
lmao at the "actually, flop doesn't mean that" people
lmao at the "actually, flop doesn't mean that" people
And it happens sadly in most industries, especially now during covid. See example: tourism. Just terrible and degrading.
stop making excuses for blatant greed.
again, do you do this for all occurrences of economic injustice? like if your landlord raised your friends rent by 35%, do you just shrug and say "well bud, all landlords do it! you can't be mad!" ?
This line is probably why people are reacting to calling something that sold 13 million copies a flop. Maybe it was a disappointment, unclear.
My stance is that profit sharing is good, but the split here is disappointing. It's hard to have more to say about it unless Schreier or someone else is able to provide some info on what the industry standard is for profit sharing bonuses.
The article does say these are part of an annual profit sharing plan.
Yeah, it's weird that people expect words to actually have meanings!
I don't wish ill on any company in this industry. But I do find it absolutely disheartening and a moral injustice that those at CDPR most responsible for imposing awful crunch conditions and the state of the game at launch that caused it to be removed from the PlayStation store will be getting bonuses far, far, far beyond the lower level developers who they put through the wringer.
Of course I don't. Of course I'd be mad, I am mad because of this but I'm mad at the system, not the singular landlord/company. How is CDPR "pathetic" for this when every other company in existence does this? If people here said that everyone is pathetic for doing this I would agree, but singling out CPDR doesn't make sense
Think of it as an AC Unity type of situation where financial success will not directly translate to growth and anywhere near as much interest as their very next title. Especially if it happens to by cyberpunk related and even if that hypothetical cyberpunk project is way more polished.
This kinda reminds me of how, despite being an unprecedented bomb on most metrics, Anthem was still one of the top 20 selling games of 2019 and top 10 on the Xbox platform. Momentum of hype changes the calculus, regardless of the trajectory afterwards.
Flip side - compound the negative PR that CDPR has to drive home a point about management receiving ridiculous sums while workers have to work under crunch and shit conditions in order to deliver the product for fractions of the profit
Kingdoms of Amalur sold millions so how dare anyone say the game flopped.
It's all relative. Failing to hit launch sales targets, with post launch sales being almost non-existent, being removed from digital storefronts, and tarnishing the company's previously (mostly) stellar reputation in the industry could certainly qualify as a flop.
Where would you like to start then if we're not "allowed" to take it out on CDPR?
Stop defending companies.
One of the biggest flops in recent years. Lying to the press, sales cratering after release. And now this, just a horrible mess.
They have a current gen version and dlc expansions coming for cyberpunk.
Witcher 3 still sells well and also has a current gen version coming up.
They will not get in financial problems anytime soon.
User Warned: Hostile Pedantic Thread-Derail; Peramantently Thread-Banned
A flop? lol. Jason should have stayed at Kotaku.
The CDPR defense force needs to chill with the whataboutisms. Yes, other companies engage in the same shitty behavior. So what? We can all criticize that behavior in other threads when stories emerge about them (i.e. like the multiple threads about Activision and Bobby Kotick).
The simple fact is that this game underperformed expectations and negatively impacted a publicly traded company because those expectations are hugely important to stock price and future earnings. Instead of the board eating most of that negative impact, they passed far too much of it on to the lower level employees. That sucks, full stop. Calling out that greed is perfectly fine and doesn't need pushback.
The simple fact is that this game underperformed expectations and negatively impacted a publicly traded company because those expectations are hugely important to stock price and future earnings. Instead of the board eating most of that negative impact, they passed far too much of it on to the lower level employees. That sucks, full stop. Calling out that greed is perfectly fine and doesn't need pushback.
Oh the quality is there. Even Cyberpunk has more than enough quality in it. It only needed a year or two more in the oven. But management got greedy and made the developers churn out a game that wasn't ready at all. The patches and add-ons for the Witcher 3 upgraded the game immensely over time. There's no way they wouldn't do the same and even more for CP 2077.
The developers and more than enough money are there. They need a shakeup in management and enough time to make the game they want.
Management needs to shut it's trap and let the developers do what they need to do.
Ideally management shouldn't start to market the game until it's done. Then take 6 -12 months to market it. During this time the devs will polish it even more.
They would make even more money. So many users want their games.
Again management needs to change hard.
every company that does this is pathetic and shitty. CDPR is "singled out" in this thread because schreier's piece is about CDPR, who just earned themselves the title of "one of the most disastrous game launches in history". along with their documented issues with transphobia and mistreatment of workers, it's not tough to figure out why they're being written about and discussed. they don't deserve the defense you're giving them. none of these greedy fucks do.
Think about a Cyberpunk sequel. Is anyone going to give it the benefit of the doubt after what happened? The franchise is tainted.
There are more metrics than money made in the moment. It was a flop.
There are more metrics than money made in the moment. It was a flop.
CDPR fans are the most rabid fanbase in gaming, thanks in part to their gamergater attitude.