CD Projekt Red has acquired developer Strange New Things, in order to accelerate the creation of Cyberpunk 2077.
The Polish developer, renowned for The Witcher games, is close to achieving the final agreement to acquire Strange New Things, which will be renamed CD Projekt Red Wroclaw, and will join forces with CD Projekt Red’s existing studios in Warsaw and Cracow to work on Cyberpunk 2077.
In a statement on CD Projekt Red’s website, the company’s President and Joint CEO Adam Kicinski said: “Wrocław is one of the biggest and most technologically advanced cities in Poland and a playing field for serious creative talent. I think the scope of our current and future projects, as well as the overall package we’re bringing in, will pull in people who were hesitant to move to Warsaw or Cracow.” Pawel Zawodny, Studio Head of CD Projekt Red Wroclaw, added: “We’re pretty hyped to be on the spearhead of this new office. The team is strong, and I’m sure we have both the experience and the creative firepower to make Cyberpunk 2077 an even better game.”
The 18-strong team at Strange New Things has a strong collective development history – Zawodny was COO of Techland previously, and team members worked on the likes of Dying Light, Call of Juarez, Hitman and various Witcher games.
But the acquisition does invite speculation about when Cyberpunk 2077 is likely to see the light of day – with a whole new studio now having to be integrated into its development team, it certainly rules out any prospect of CD Projekt Red’s next epic RPG arriving in 2018, and it will remain to be seen whether the game will even arrive in 2019.
