Witcher and Cyberpunk CEO addresses bogus claim CDPR is in "dire trouble" because it's too "woke"

"Seems we live in times where anyone can record complete nonsense and make a story out of it," joint CEO Michał Nowakowski says on Twitter, quote tweeting a link to a video making a lot of extreme claims. "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."

[MrDead]

"Seems we live in times where anyone can record complete nonsense and make a story out of it," joint CEO Michał Nowakowski says on Twitter.
Anybody who's here to tell you the company is failing today because of 'wokeness' or 'DEI' is simply trying to make you mad and profit off of that anger."

The psycho snowflake "anti-woke" nutters strike again! I think it's best for the Tater Totts to stay out of gaming, the real world seem too much for their little brains to handle. They are so into the "fear of the other" fiction bubble created by clowns that profit off of hate.

[lukasmain]

Honestly, I've seen many of these stories come through here, some approved and a lot not approved and failed, and you are always attacking and running defense and always come across as frantic and really desperate. "Profit off of hate" ... that is so not what those people do. They have a different opinion on a lot things and they criticise stuff they like in gaming and culture. The only "snowflake" here is you, and it's blatantly obvious. You're the only one getting triggered. When I was scrolling through the potential submissions and i saw this title, I knew you would be the only comment on here and sure enough, I was correct.

In regards to the article, that claim is so obviously ridiculous and the CEO shouldn't have given it any credence whatsoever. You're just giving that claim more power than it deserves. Just keep doing what you've been doing. The DLC for Cyberpunk was great. Looking forward to your next big project.

[babadivad]

They posted receipts, not just claims. The CEO responded because what they said hit too close to home.

Nothing they said was untrue. Since being called a liar, even more chaos was revealed about the current goings on at CDPR.

I agree, CEO should have ignored it instead of trying to defend the truth with a lie or a carefully "massaged" truth.

[just_looken]

CDPR made a pro esg video talking about how great it is to put dei/esg infront of making product's then go on about hiring only females like its a great mighty thing to do.

Here is the video
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

You should hire people on what they can do there passion and there work ethic not on what/who they are.

They just launched a new mentorship program hey that is great but what is this only women and mostly just out of high school? ok wtf

https://boundingintocomics....

https://thatparkplace.com/w...

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

I won't post more but the old cdpr was a company that ported games assisted in making games then tossed out the witcher eventually the masterpiece witcher 3 after that cyberpunk failure now they are all into making cash first the talent is long gone.

The talent that left is making 2 games in 2 studios

Rebel wolves from the wither 2/3 team a AAA rpg
https://rebel-wolves.com/

dark passenger making a new ninja game this team made cyberpunk/witcher 3
https://www.darkpassenger.e...

[MrDead]

Who to listen to, the people that actually work in and run the companies or posts from the hate pushers that have been radicalised and conditioned to spread hate and "fear of the other"?.. real tough one.

Just look at the links you posted for gods sake and the hate you have for CDPR because you've been told to hate. All I understand from your posts is that media literacy is in desperate need.

[neutralgamer1992]

The concept of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) is intended to promote inclusivity, but it can sometimes lead to unintended consequences, particularly in the gaming industry. For instance, companies like Sweet Baby have reportedly given talks at events like GDC on how to influence companies to prioritize certain demands. This approach can be polarizing, and when some developers tell gamers, “This game isn’t for you, don’t buy it,” it creates a disconnect between the creators and their audience. If these games then fail to meet expectations, it’s unfair to blame gamers alone.

The data is often cited to suggest that nearly 49% of gamers are female, but this figure includes mobile gaming. Excluding mobile games, the percentage of female gamers is significantly lower, estimated at under 15%. Despite this, we often see companies investing large budgets in chasing niche demographics like mobile and casual gamers, or the small percentage of the LGBTQ+ community, instead of focusing on the core 79% of traditional gamers. Recent examples, such as the Saints Row reboot, Concord, Star Wars: Outlaws, and Assassin’s Creed Mirage, highlight the risks of this approach.

Ultimately, companies must decide whether to develop games that resonate with the majority of gamers or pursue niche markets, potentially at the cost of broader appeal. The challenge is striking a balance that meets the diverse needs of the gaming community without alienating core audiences

[NotoriousWhiz]

People try to attribute failed games to "diversity" but that is not the case. Those games did bad because they were bad games. Not because they appeal to a "niche market". Games like San Andreas, Celeste, Last of us did very well because they were really good games and also no one cared about this "anti-woke" (i.e. anti diversity) non sense.

Let developers create what they want. If they want to create a game with a diverse set of characters, then that is their prerogative. Whether or not the game does well will not be because of those characters' backgrounds.

[jwillj2k4]

“ The data is often cited to suggest that nearly 49% of gamers are female, but this figure includes mobile gaming. Excluding mobile games, the percentage of female gamers is significantly lower, estimated at under 15%.”

The idea is that if they make more diverse content they’ll attract more women to the console and PC space where in reality, It’s more about the form factor and convenience of mobile gaming since most of that demographic’s attention is already focused on a mobile device.

[jwillj2k4]

@NotoriousWhiz

That’s fair enough.

However on the same token, using establish characters to push their agenda is only going to lead to controversy. It’s fine to create your characters and storylines, but don’t change our beloved characters looks and mannerisms to achieve it.

Also, they have to accept the fact that when their game fails, it’s just not what gamers want versus blaming and pointing fingers at gamers, saying we’re the problem.

[thorstein]

These people are so weird. Why are they so obsessed with a game or a person for existing?

Remember the celebration for a Concord failing? That's weird. The game existed. No one need buy it, but to celebrate its demise because of a perceived agenda (that no one can find published, or unpublished, anywhere) is simply bizarre.

[Sonyslave3]

lol what Cpdr game is woke ? I know they not talking about the Witcher or cyberpunk game and blaming DEI for bad sales is stupid as hell, like maybe the game isn’t good or release at the wrong time.
Even tho both franchises are thriving.

[just_looken]

cyberpunk dlc was made with esg funding they even got a award
https://www.cdprojekt.com/e...

Uptop i posted a video around the time they were making the dlc

witcher 3 is 10 years old different era cyberpunk is all over the place hard to say the base game got the dei injection.

[Valkyrye]

I feel sorry for you and the people around you, must be terrible living with so much hate.

[just_looken]

@Valkyrye

"hate" sure i post a link on cdpr website getting a esg award

A company on that website that is anti men and hiring girls out of highschool.

But hey next month WW3 is going to start sense over 300 million people want trump as there leader so of course no one gets the cdpr situation.

[babadivad]

None yet. The talent who built the company is gone and they are now filled to the hilt with ESG.

[just_looken]

Right thank you

[-Foxtrot]

I have never heard this claim going around, I feel like people take these small rumours or stuff they've seen on Twitter and make a big deal out of them for whatever silly reason. It ends up like the Streisand effect, by bringing attention to it or by dismissing it they end up making a bigger thing where more people end up wanting to know more about it.

[VersusDMC]

https://m.youtube.com/watch...

Watch that video for a lowdown of the situation. Whether the DEI push is cause for concern is debatable...but the CEO is lying here.

And are we really going to trust a CD project red CEO after a different CEO said the PS4/XBONE versions of Cyberpunk "run surprisingly well" before launch. The same versions that got temporarily delisted for being so bad which doesn't happen very often.

[babadivad]

A little research is all you need to find the CEO isn't being forthcoming with the truth.

[Michiel1989]

don't tell them about the hooker card collection

[LostPotato]

The whole D.E.I program is one huge cluster-fuck that started out to help and has been perverted by an agenda.

On the other-hand he's correct about Youtubers and others using it for another agenda. Both sides are a parody.

[Hofstaderman]

There better be tiddies in the next Witcher game.... and no, please not man tiddies.

[Oni]

No just top surgery scars.

[Valkyrye]

how did your brain surgery go?

[90sGamingWasBetter]

If you listen to developers who work in some of the major studios they do say that there is a culture of fear and that they are are ham-stringed by politically correct ideology, and there's absolutely no denying that many games nowadays do push certain agendas.

[thorstein]

Where can I read these agendas?

[JEECE]

You really can't be so naive that you think that people with a nefarious agenda write their nefarious agenda down on a publicly available word document titled "Nefarious Agenda," can you?

I'm sure you'll concede that many companies in the world have discriminated against various minorities in hiring. Do you think all of those companies have a paper they hand to their HR department that says "Groups We Discriminate Against," or do you think it is just an understood thing that isn't written down anywhere?

[thorstein]

@Jeece Project 2025.

So yes, they do.

But if your argument is that there is an agenda and yet have 0 evidence of it then you don't have an argument. You have conjecture and anecdotes.

[Valkyrye]

what agenda? tell me oh knowledgeable one

[thorstein]

Apparently we all got a copy. Yet every single copy has remarkably been kept out of the hands of the right wing. Every single copy.

Apparently it's nefarious. We dastards are nefariously including everyone.

[Aaroncls7]

lol that reads very defensive.
But it is a concern in general, more and more projects are failing because there is a consistent rejection - in mass - of projects associated with esg and dei elements.
Whether organized by groups that vocalize virtual boycotts or just organically recognized, most people just want normal games.

Now, you can deny and excuse it all you want, but thats where we are.

[Valkyrye]

Normal games?! If you want porno just go to your favorite website bruh

[Aaroncls7]

nah, that's a crap take and you know it.

[vTuro24]

Action speaks louder than words. Keep the card collection in the Witcher remake as it was and maybe I'll believe you.

[DOMination-]

Microsoft got rid of their DEI department (for gaming) a few months ago but N4G was of course outraged that people were losing jobs at the multi-trillion dollar company.

Now that DEI is the big buzzword in town, it's not looking so bad now, I believe.

[babadivad]

They didn't just make "claims", they posted receipts.

[Valkyrye]

Hey Incels GET A LIFE!

[TheColbertinator]

All these Youtubers make up all this nonsense and the attention they get brings in the cash. Sometimes these anti-woke grifters are just as bad as Ubisoft. Promising this and that but never delivering anything concrete.

[anast]

The problem isn't that DEI is inherently bad. It is that the left idiots that try to enforce this stuff are acting the same as the ignorant side of the hill bumkins they think they despise. They take revenge instead of change and it makes things worse if not the same.

[Oni]

Exactly, they are no better than the far right but they are so radicalised that they'll never see it.

[Michiel1989]

I do think DEI is bad, anyime an artist can't tell the story they want to tell its bad imo. I don't get why it needs to be so forced, it's like they're so desperate to get a participation reward.

And can we be honest here, this inclusivity stuff is just bs: have you ever heard someone say: i didn't enjoy Fellowship of the ring because Aragorn was white or because all the elves were white? I couldn't enjoy Blade because he's not transgender or white. No one says that shit, so why should we even pay any thought to this? If those people genuinely think that, they will come up with other complaints, or should I call them demands? Don't give them an inch, methaphorically at least, because they can get fucked.

[anast]

DEI isn't inherently bad. Nothing in the acronym is bad. It's the centralization of these programs that give morons the power to abuse something that is fundamentally humane that is bad.

"I don't get why it needs to be so forced."

Other than political overcorrection, the whole industry has been Netflix'd. It's a mill churning out poor quality art with a low barrier to entry to projects. This leads to an imbalance between released content and the actual existing talent, which is why the industry can't make their own characters from the ground up. Therefore, they can only change the gender, 'race', or religion of a character that has already been established. This is why it feels forced.

[Michiel1989]

no DEI isnt inherently bad, but it is now. It used to be for people with an actual disfigurement, so that they could be better accepted in society. That whole meaning is lost now, it's been taken hostage by people who cut up their own body, minorities and sjw and used as a shield for their outlandish opinions that no one agrees with and if you don't with whatever hissyfit they decide to throw that particular day you're either transphobic or racist.

[anast]

I' m not sure who "you" is in your statement, but you, as in the actual you, just paraphrased what I had stated. Therefore, it looks like we are in agreement.

I'm not sure the about the body cutting thing...that would be a personal choice which has no bearing on anything.

[babadivad]

The naivety on this site is pretty shocking. Why are you just taking this guys word for it instead of researching yourselves.

So many people in here are just replying with, "CEO said it isn't true so there's nothing to see here."

[Profchaos]

I like Witcher and cyberpunk turned around completely I don't care what they do in their offices cause it's apparently working

[Baza]

They have a webpage touting their diversity and inclusion with co CEO Adam front and center. They also have a female director of Culture, Diveristy, and Inclusion. You can’t deny their agenda.

Michal doing damage control with consumers cause he sees how DEI agenda is toxic to games sales

Unfortunately I think it’s too late. Those policies and diversity hires are deeply entrenched in their organization now.

Witcher 4 will not be made by the same organization and people who made Witcher 3.

I’m sick of this DEI crap infiltrating the gaming industry. Another great developer consumed by woke policies.

[MeatyUrologist]

I never really got the impression that CDPR were woke. I'm not someone who claims every game with a lot of diversity is woke, but I also recognize there is such a thing.

Take the Horizon series for example. I enjoyed the first but in Forbidden West they ramped it up so much I couldn't even get through it. Nearly every single strong warrior and leader is female. Every white male is a bumbling worthless idiot, coward, or evil villian with maybe 1-2 exceptions. I have no issue with diversity or strong female leads but when you can tell exactly what a person's personality and traits are as soon as you lsee them in the game it is clear there is a bias. CDPR includes diverse characters but never seems to force negative stereotypes or pigeonhole them into certain roles so not woke imo.

[BoneMagnus]

The ignorance on this website is simply astounding - from all sides.The brainwashing of the general public is indeed a real phenomenon.

What is almost as pathetic is the notion that you can change someone’s mind or “correct” their alleged error (in your mind) through posting what you believe is a well constructed zing.