Troubled Witcher multiplayer spinoff Project Sirius struck with new round of layoffs

Project Sirius, CD Projekt Red’s unsettled effort astatine a multiplayer Witcher spinoff, is facing further difficulties. Following a Kotaku report, the Polish dev-publishers confirmed to IGN that they were cutting 18 unit members from the task – believed to beryllium astir a 4th of the game’s wide squad size, which was already dwarfed by the CDPR unit assigned to mainline singleplayer sequel The Witcher 4.

Of the affected developers, fractional person been made redundant, portion fractional "have been invited to interior recruitment processes for imaginable roles connected different CD Projekt Red projects." This is besides the 2nd clip the institution person slashed Project Sirius staff, with layoffs pursuing an effectual reboot successful 2023.

We haven’t seen thing of the crippled – besides rumoured to beryllium an RPG – since then, nor so since it was primitively announced successful 2022. Its archetypal improvement team, The Flame successful the Flood and Drake Hollow makers The Molasses Flood, were acquired by CDPR a twelvemonth earlier, with the nationalist assurance that they would "keep their existent individuality and volition not beryllium merged with existing teams." That committedness ended successful 2025, erstwhile The Molasses Flood was afloat absorbed into their genitor company.

Image credit: CD Projekt

Regardless of the fortunes of immoderate peculiar game, it remains profoundly frustrating that wide redundancies person go an astir regular occurrence for the medium, peculiarly 1 wherever companies proceed to rake successful millions, if not billions, successful revenues and profits. Supermassive Games conscionable made their 3rd large jobs chopped successful arsenic galore years, Crossfire developers That’s No Moon made 14 radical jobless soon aft the game’s unveiling, and Halo Studios - of that famously niche and cash-strapped series, Halo - capped disconnected a caller remake by letting spell of multi-game seasoned contractors. And that’s each conscionable successful the past week.

Developers themselves look to beryllium moving retired of patience. Also this week, unionised Bethesda workers erected a elephantine inflatable rat extracurricular the company’s HQ, successful protestation of visiting Microsoft gaming main Asha Sharma and her program to laic disconnected up to 3,200 staff. Thought it was their different additions to the tract that possibly made the stronger statement: a tiny emblem for each affected existent and erstwhile colleague, stretching retired successful a heartbreakingly protracted portion of flickering red.