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The Witcher 3 Game Director has taken over as Cyberpunk 2077 Design Director, and as CD Projekt Red Vice President of Game Development

BAD

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,565
USA
Last edited:
OP
OP

BAD

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,565
USA
TheMango55 said:
He's replacing the guy that went to Blizzard right?
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It's hard to say, as the title is different. This position may have been created because of the Creative Director leaving, but it is labeled on the new LinkedIn update as Design Director. May be totally different positions.
 
decoyplatypus

decoyplatypus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,614
Brooklyn
Hmm...I did not like TW3, but I don't know that it's worth trying to extrapolate anything about the direction of Cyberpunk when (a) TW3 is just one, slightly different sort of game and (b) most of the core design work for Cyberpunk should already be done, right?
 
Haribo

Haribo

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
979
I'm sorry but whenever someone leaves in the middle of a project's development its never a good sign.
 
gdt

gdt

Member
Oct 26, 2017
9,493
Haribo said:
I'm sorry but whenever someone leaves in the middle of a project's development its never a good sign.
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I mean it could be a bad sign...or this guy wanted to move or saw it as a big pay bump or wanted something new on his resume. Moving around is good for you.
 
Darryl M R

Darryl M R

The Spectacular PlayStation-Man
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,721
Did they need to fill the vacant role? I thought people were saying the previous person leaving was not really a major deal since the game is far along in development. I could be confusing multiple vacant roles though.
 
Poimandres

Poimandres

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,872
Bhonar said:
this is a silly take, as others have already said

happens all the time in all fields of business across the entire world
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I don't necessarily think it's a silly take. It's the kind of thing that can potentially cause complications.

Then again, having a totally stable team over a period of many years has pitfalls of its own with burnout, dissatisfaction etc.

Anyway, I don't think there are signs that there is trouble with Cyberpunks development at this stage.
 
Wumbo64

Wumbo64

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
327
I wish we could get some developer insight on if this kind of turnover is common. I don't know if "creative director" is exactly the kind of person you want leaving the project until it is essentially finished. It is my understanding based on interviews and previous commentary from game developers that even as much as 6 months before a game launches, large changes can occur.

I mean, it is nice that we know someone qualified is taking the reigns, but I have to wonder how smooth of a transition this will be for the team.
 
OP
OP

BAD

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,565
USA
SneakyJared said:
I wish we could get some developer insight on if this kind of turnover is common. I don't know if "creative director" is exactly the kind of person you want leaving the project until it is essentially finished. It is my understanding based on interviews and previous commentary from game developers that even as much as 6 months before a game launches, large changes can occur.

I mean, it is nice that we know someone qualified is taking the reigns, but I have to wonder how smooth of a transition this will be for the team.
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Hard to say but on a project with hundreds of people you can bet they are smart enough not to let one person leaving or stepping away for health or anything jeopardize the project
 
Steiner_Zi

Steiner_Zi

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,345
SneakyJared said:
I wish we could get some developer insight on if this kind of turnover is common. I don't know if "creative director" is exactly the kind of person you want leaving the project until it is essentially finished. It is my understanding based on interviews and previous commentary from game developers that even as much as 6 months before a game launches, large changes can occur.

I mean, it is nice that we know someone qualified is taking the reigns, but I have to wonder how smooth of a transition this will be for the team.
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This game has been in development for so many years, 5? During that time personal circumstances change, people make families, divorce, get sick, move to different cities/countries, find better jobs or even get bored. It's not a huge deal to see some turnover even in leadership positions during such a long development period imo.
 
thisismadness

thisismadness

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,447
I remember a similar story about Witcher 3 where one of the lead designers bailed and everyone was worried.
 
machinaea

machinaea

Game Producer
Verified
Oct 29, 2017
221
Haribo said:
I'm sorry but whenever someone leaves in the middle of a project's development its never a good sign.
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Not at all, there are plenty of various reasons why people leave during mid-development, even leadership roles and while sure it may cause pains, those might also be avoidable or even a net positive for the game under right circumstances. As examples, Brian Horton joined Insomniac somewhat late in Spider-Mans development as a Design Director and later became a Creative Director (alongside Bryan Intihar), or that they lost Mike Acton, the Engine Director mid-development.

It can be a bad sign under certain circumstances, but that is very, very far from an absolute truth in all cases.
 
machinaea

machinaea

Game Producer
Verified
Oct 29, 2017
221
Turin Turambar said:
Is there even a big difference between 'Design Director' and 'Game Director?
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There can be, but it's very much case-by-case, studio-by-studio sort of thing and either role has massive difference between studios. Some differences may be for example that in some studio game director has more responsibilities of the creative direction and conceptual matters, where as a design director may have more work in managing the process, work and overall team leadership responsibilities that may not be direct decisions on how exact creative questions, but rather the processes of designers outputting their work in the team.
 
Wumbo64

Wumbo64

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
327
BAD said:
Hard to say but on a project with hundreds of people you can bet they are smart enough not to let one person leaving or stepping away for health or anything jeopardize the project
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Steiner_Zi said:
This game has been in development for so many years, 5? During that time personal circumstances change, people make families, divorce, get sick, move to different cities/countries, find better jobs or even get bored. It's not a huge deal to see some turnover even in leadership positions during such a long development period imo.
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To the first point, I wish I could have that level of confidence in a project of this scale. Realistically, you are correcting in assuming that is how a team should operate. I have just seen too many examples of blockbuster projects (movies, games, television, even comics) go belly up because one brick of the Jenga tower got pulled.
To the second point, I am not saying it isn't uncommon. I am just curious as to if it ever impacts development significantly. Optimally, a replacement is inserted and they are fully aware of how to steer the ship forward without too much jarring movement. My point is that this is still a position that dictates creative decisions and creativity is a trait that tends to vary massively from person to person, even in a formal business setting.
 
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