Last week it came out that CD Projekt lied on yet another matter when it comes to Cyberpunk 2077. One month before the game’s final delay, the company’s CEO told investors that Keanu Reeves, the actor who plays Johnny Silverhand, one of the key characters in the game, had played it and loves it. In a more recent interview, Reeves was asked outright if he’d played Cyberpunk 2077, to which the actor responded by saying he’d never played a game in his life, and doesn’t play them. He certainly hasn’t played Cyberpunk 2077, adding that he’d seen demos, but had not played the game. Considering the massive mess that is Cyberpunk 2077 right now, I’m not surprised, because CD Projekt has business people in charge.
I used to work with the type of person I’m talking about. They’ll say yes no matter what, add in some fancy lies that make things sound like they’re going great, and then make their staff panic and work extra hard because of their lies. It’s bad practice, and there’s no need for it. Everyone, especially people who are investing money in your company, wants to hear the truth, and lying always comes out in the end. Cd Projekt should have known that Reeves would be asked about this eventually, and not it’s all going wrong again.
The only people that should be in a leadership position in a games company are those who have worked in the industry before. Those who have been coders, worked in marketing, basically any area. What we don’t need are business people who are great at leading companies for six months before moving on for a bigger salary. I’ve been on the inside when business people are caught out, and all it means is more crunch without any word of thanks. These business people don’t think they’ve done anything wrong because they make you help them get away with it, and there are no repercussions. I can’t think of a better way for this news to come out, and I honestly hope that it means CD Projekt gets some better management in place.