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.