In 2019,
Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red — and, particularly, co-founder Marcin Iwiński — made the grand promise that its employees would not be forced to “crunch.” Crunch is a ubiquitous term in the video game industry, a stand-in word describing the weeks, months, or years when developers work for long, grueling hours to complete a game.
Iwiński said at the time, in an interview with Kotaku, that he wanted the company to “be known for treating developers with respect.” But there’s a dichotomy between that historic public perception (albeit, now lost) and how workers at the company are treated. As it turns out, that goodwill — which the company eventually lost — did not extend to its own employees after all.