‘We tried and it didn’t work out’: CDPR co-founder says it shouldn’t stray from AAA open-world RPGs

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In the company's official AnsweRED podcast, co-founder Marcin Iwiński and joint-CEO Adam Badowski were discussing the biggest challenges which are faced during game production.

Iwiński noted that one of the most important things the studio has realised since its inception is that it should resist the temptation to experiment with other genres or features that the studio isn't usually associated with, because there's no guarantee it can deliver those to a similarly high standard.
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"I want to add one more important thing which learned over time, and I think Adam will totally agree," Iwiński said. "In all that we're doing, we've learned that we need to be razor sharp focused.

"We cannot do so many things we would love to do, we are tempted to do. We tried, and it didn't work out. We have to focus on what we are good at and really put 100% into it."
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Badowski added: "Everything is in our strategy. We're going to develop AAA RPG open-world narrative-driven games and this is our, let's say, niche. So the focus is there."

"And it sounds so simple," Iwiński explained. "When you're growing, it's hard because there are all these temptations. You know, these people are doing this stuff online and it's so cool, and we love to play it and you think 'okay, no, let's take a deep breath and come back to what we're doing. Because if we spread ourselves too thin, we'll not deliver."
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"Ideas are great," Badowski added. "Games are better and better, especially gameplay-wise. But you need to take it and adapt it to our concept. So it takes time. The initial excitement is great, but it doesn't work in the long term."
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‘We tried and it didn’t work out’: CDPR co-founder says it shouldn’t stray from AAA open-world RPGs | VGC

The Witcher and Cyberpunk studio should stay “razor sharp focused” on what it knows best…
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Makes sense.
Though in a way it's a shame because Thronebreaker was awesome and I'd have loved to see them do more stuff like that.
 
What did they try that didn't work? Well, Cyberpunk barely worked at launch, but I don't think that's what they're talking about.
 
Their decision to focus seems to be working out for them so far.

I'd like to see what else they could do, but if they don't believe they could deliver to as high of a standard as their RPGs (eventually) reach, then they probably can't.
 
A lot of the biggest and most influential devs/publishers: Capcom, Nintendo, Sega, Golden age Konami, etc they all had a good diversity of genres and styles, or even innovated many different times in the same genre (Valve, Polyphony, Fromsoftware)

This approach works sure but I think having a true breadth of experience in different genres and styles of game will set you apart from the rest in a good way. People will eventually get tired of you if you make the same shit over and over again because it's safe or that's what "gamers want".

Doesn't have to be a GaaS to be something different
 
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64gigabyteram said:
A lot of the biggest and most influential devs/publishers: Capcom, Nintendo, Sega, Golden age Konami, etc they all had a good diversity of genres and styles, or even innovated many different times in the same genre (Valve, Polyphony, Fromsoftware)

This approach works sure but I think having a true breadth of experience in different genres and styles of game will set you apart from the rest in a good way. People will eventually get tired of you if you make the same shit over and over again because it's safe or that's what "gamers want".
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Wait, wouldn't Cyberpunk technically qualify as them taking a chance?
 
Cyberpunkd said:
Gwent.
Thronebreaker
Rogue Mage
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Whatever happened to that "Witcher meets Pokemon Go" mobile game, was it cancelled? I'm not big into mobile games (although admittedly Pokemon Go was a fun distraction at the old office, it had several pokestops right next to it without needing to move), but it seemed both like a dumb and fun idea.
 
March Climber said:
Wait, wouldn't Cyberpunk technically qualify as them taking a chance?
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Sure. But they could still do a bit more in that regard. Maybe take their story writing expertise and put it towards a more linear game.

I'm not saying for them to jump into something completely unconnected like puzzle games or battle royales or something. Take their current skillset and expand into something new, or improve one of the areas they're weaker in, like combat.

Kinda spitballing here, I'll try writing more if I get home
 
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zaga said:
CDPR shouldn't stray from a PS5 Pro patch for Cyberpunk
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Sony should be doing something to incentivize developers to support the Pro.
It's not a 3rd party devs job to sell that hardware for Sony. The small minority of people that own a Pro aren't going to make a difference when it comes to sales. Expect the bare minimum from those that do.
 
I disagree with his assessment.

Yes, they should take the time to deliver finished products.
But it doesn't mean that once CP2077 was done with the story expansion, that they couldn't have made a new online mode for it. I even think it's a major mistake that they aren't going all in on it.

Starting two new open world RPGs on UE5, when their current game and engine could very well be expended upon, here is the mistake imho (among other misplaced priorities...). One of those teams should've stayed on CP77 to add more content and modes to it.
 
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