https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBuoexbVEFE

an interesting video

It is interesting. I do suspect that there is something very wrong with the work climate at CDPR.

As a counterpoint though, I'd raise three issues:

* Like any review site, employer rating sites tend to be statistically skewed towards the "disgruntled employee" end of the spectrum. People are more likely to want to express themselves to complain than to state praise.

* Having worked freelance as a localiser for two mid-tier studios, I can confirm that crunch time - an inevitable evil of game development when you have release dates to meet - is the number one cause of employee resentment and conflict at any studio. The fact that most of these reviews came in 2015 suggests to me that there was a lot of anger over poorly managed crunch time, but this is nothing unusual.

* It's also not uncommon for major "faceless" enterprises to try and bribe their current staff into positively rating the company on employer rating websites. I've actually been asked by a couple of companies that I've worked for (not dev studios) to rate their companies higher in exchange for higher rates.

So, take this with a pinch of salt, although it may be worth Yong digging further.

I did not want to hear this about CD Projekt. The worst part is that most complaints are targeted at management, which would also be the most difficult thing to change.

No offense to YongYea, but if there's anything to worry about, I'm certain bigger outlets will comment on the issues in the coming months, maybe based on proper sources(even if anonymous).

Jim Sterling already has recurring segments on the awful things Ubisoft, WB, Konami, Nintendo, EA are doing. I hope we don't get a new one for CD Projekt.

* Company is struggling to retain key personnel.

* Five years into the development of Cyberpunk 2077, and nothing to show for it.


The only reason this company isn't going bust is GWENT, and that's bad news for everyone that's hoping GOG remains a small beacon of light in an industry that's going into the sh*tter.

I can't remember the video exactly, but in the past Jim Sterling has had pieces of actual investigative journalism, based on sources. So he is capable of that, and he knows alot of industry people that would allow him to do than, but I do agree that lately he seems more focused on entertaining rants.

There are clear indications here in the forums that this company has taken a turn for the worse, and combined with what YongYea has presented, I think it's a question of how bad has it become, rather than "if".

In that regard, the industry is cyclical. Most of the denounced shithouses of the industry today were once saviours of their era. Believe it or not, Activision was once very highly regarded as a developer producing "quality" stuff for the Atari 2600 as opposed to Atari's own first-party shite. Ubisoft used to be known for very artistic, very original games on 8-bit and 16-bit systems. Capcom, Sega, and Squaresoft/Enix were highly respected Japanese software houses.

When the reputations of these companies started going down the shitter. they were displaced by the new generation of "independent" studios and publishers: Valve, 3D Realms, id Software, Bethesda Softworks. Now those four have taken on the mantle of industry pariahs and have been replaced by "new" independent studios and publishers like Double Fine, CDPR and Obsidian. Now they too are going down the same path of "corporatisation". They themselves will be displaced by new independent studios. No studio stays a hero for long, as profit and artistic integrity are ultimately mutually exclusive.

And that's the Circle of Life for you.

Which is exactly why someone like YongYea is a valuable resource. He's an analyst, not a showman

Wait, a video about someone who reads you stuff from web sites? No thanks, I can read myself. At the same time stock price is at a record high. Someone must be getting something quite wrong here.

Again, I have nothing bad to say about YongYea, I'm just hoping that he or somebody else follows up on the story, and brings proper sources, and not just 30 reviews on a website.

30 reviews is a staring point, I'm more interested in somebody digging deeper than that.

If this is true and also true of the gog part of CDP, then it would explain recent issues and bugs with the site and such. It's also a big red flag of "development hell" for Cyberpunk 2077.

He also formulates some conclusions, so it still has value. The analysis behind the reviews is the important part of the video.

I agree with this, but the "cycle" is becoming shorter each time it completes, and this is not limited to the game industry.

Yeah, this is the problem with a lot of web journalism these days. Most "journalists" produce nothing except op-eds, unreliable rumours and articles based on publicly-available web sources. Even many sites purporting to be "investigative" are usually pushing an agenda. Real investigative journalism is actually quite rare.

Watching films like All the President's Men and Spotlight makes me quite nostalgic about it, truth be told.