Cyberpunk 2077 sold over 13 million copies, with around 500,000 copies refunded since its launch. Calling the launch disastrous is an understatement, however. The game’s poor state lead to it being banned from the PSN store. Even after multiple patches, including one massive one, Cyberpunk 2077 still feels woefully undercooked.
That’s not to say the game is terrible, far from it. As we stated in our review, Cyberpunk 2077 manages to shine brightly in multiple areas. You have to consider the amount of crunch and short time frame for the development as well. It’s actually impressive what the developers at CD Projekt RED managed to pull off.
As such, it’s a bit disappointing to hear that the staff aren’t exactly happy with the bonuses they were paid. Given their immense work on Cyberpunk, which continues as we speak with their promise to deliver ongoing patches to fix the game, it’s obvious they deserve it. So what gives?
On a CD Projekt earnings call, someone asked if these executive bonuses were "appropriate." Here's the full question and co-CEO Adam Kiciński's full response. Kiciński is set to receive a $6.3 million bonus pic.twitter.com/6yzo2LKq1m
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) April 30, 2021
Unfair Bonuses
As it turns out, those massive bonuses are going to the board members. According to a recent article by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, employees report they earned only $5000 to $9000 in bonuses, while senior employees earned closer to $15,000 or $20,000. This is all fine and good until you consider the fact that CDPR board members receive $6.3 million each, totaling $28 million for all five board members.
Staff feels that the rushed release of Cyberpunk is largely to blame for the low bonuses. If they were given more time to work on the game, the reception would not have been as bad, and bonuses would have been greater.
There is some good news though, as CD Projekt RED are re-evaluating their practices to keep the staff from leaving the company. Wages for some of the lowest-paid positions have been increased, including QA. This seems fitting given QA was entirely thrown under the bus during an “apology” video released earlier this year.
Though, even with the additional compensations, the gap between staff and management is still enormous. This seems to be common across the entire industry, with the news that Activision’s CEO Bobby Kotick has been forced to reduce his bonus by 50%.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!
