Earlier this month, Polish game developers, including several from CD Projekt Red, formed the Polish Game Developers' Union (PGWU). This was in response to the company's layoffs of 9% of its workforce in July. At the time, CEO Adam Kicinski explained that the move was intended to make the team more "agile and effective," but agile and effective does not pay the rent.

"This event has created tremendous stress and anxiety," the union's website explains. Having a union means being safer, more transparent, better protected, and having a stronger voice in a crisis situation"

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In an interview with IGN, CD Projekt Red's developers said that the aftermath of the game-crunching culture issues that occurred with both 2017's The Witcher 3 and 2019's Cyberpunk 2077 led to this unnerving climate, and that this situation shed further light on the issue.

Paula Mackiewicz-Armstrong, language QA assurance coordinator, says that while things are looking up for the company as a whole, it's still not enough. 'I was on the ground in 2019 and 2020. I've seen the fires of Jupiter burning ..... ...I'm glad that CDPR is working on those improvements, but it's not complete yet."

These changes include a commitment to reducing crunch culture, which seems to be largely taking hold, and while there is still overtime, "overall, it's getting healthier." Mackiewicz-Armstrong says. Jason Slama, director of the next Witcher film, has responded to the related accusations with a firm "Never on my watch." But as the wave of layoffs in 2023 shows, it's not just the crunch that developers should fear.

"There are people close to you who have worked with you for a long time, or mentored you, or know your potential ...... They see them get laid off, and if they don't have an answer as to why, the cracks start to show really fast," says Tolly Kulczycki, technical QA analyst.

Mackiewicz-Armstrong agrees: "They have families and need stability in their lives just to exist. So to be exposed to the fear of being laid off is a huge stress. Many of those laid off were hired very recently, from a few months to a year, and they have completely lost that chance."

The union has yet to be formally endorsed by CD Projekt Red itself. However, dialogue has reportedly begun between the fledgling union and the studios.

In a statement to IGN, CD Projekt Red emphasized the RED team representative: "We have been working with them for over two years now and will continue to do so to keep our work environment transparent, safe and healthy." Developers like Mackiewicz-Armstrong added: "Their decisions and recommendations are not legally binding. Everything is advisory and left to the discretion of the board and management"

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That's right. Few companies say, 'Let's make your boss legally binding. Any measure introduced by a company, no matter how well-intentioned, will inevitably act in the interests of those who created it.

"[The RED team representatives] are a great initiative. But the union is an external body that does not depend on the board, that does not answer to the board, that provides not only the internal procedures of the company, but also the protection and support enshrined in the law."

It was a great year for gaming, but a terrible year for the people who make it, and the tech industry as a whole. 2023 is not even over yet, but layoffs this year include: 600 Unity employees, some of Dragon Age's best writers, about half of Brace Yourselves, most of Telltale Games' staff, some Hearthstone developers and about 30 developers at Firaxis ...... etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc.

The broader tech industry has also been hit hard. Microsoft laid off a whopping 10,000 employees (this number is a byproduct of scale, but the company has over 221,000 employees worldwide). This type of job insecurity plagues society in general.

But just because it's common is no reason to shrug and say there's nothing we can do about it; it's nice to see that CD Projekt Red's developers are beginning to erect new barriers between themselves and their grim trend. And hopefully, it won't be long before the studio officially recognizes their union.