CD Projekt Red is laying off "approximately 9%" of its staff, with roughly 100 people losing their jobs over the next seven months.

In a statement on the CDPR website, CEO Adam Kiciński said the layoffs are part of "an ongoing process of some deep transformation within the studio" that he sees as "key to making quality games on time and without pressure."

"To meet our own high expectations and ambitions of creating the best role-playing games, we want to have not only the best people but also the right team. That means building a team that is tailored to the needs of the project, one that is more agile and more effective. At this point, we are convinced that for CD Projekt Red to grow, we need to consistently execute this approach."

Kiciński continues: "This is not easy to say, but today we are overstaffed. We have excellent people on board, but they are finishing their respective jobs and we already know that there will be no other opportunities for them next year, based on current and anticipated project needs"

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He clarified that not all layoffs will take place immediately, adding that "some employees will still be laid off in the first quarter of 2024, but in the spirit of transparency, we decided to share this information now. We hope that team members will take sufficient time to adapt to this change.

This news comes two months before the release of Cyberpunk 2077: The Phantom Liberty, and CDPR currently has a number of other projects in the works, starting with Project Polaris, and three more in the next six years. The Witcher, and is also working on a Witcher spin-off that was announced to be in pre-production last October. He is also working on the mysterious project Hadar, "a completely separate IP that will be created from scratch within CDPR." As per Kisinski's vision, there are many challenges in development and a dwindling staff to handle them.

Layoffs are always an unfortunate possibility in any job, but they have become increasingly common in the gaming industry this year. Just two months ago, CDPR laid off 29 employees from its recently acquired studio The Molasses Flood. Several other studios have laid off many staff members in 2023.