In a recent interview, CD Projekt Red Chief Strategy Officer Adam Kiciński said that the developer behind acclaimed titles like The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 isn’t interested in being acquired by a larger publisher.
Kiciński addressed rumors of a potential acquisition in an interview with Parkiet, a prominent Polish newspaper, clarifying that they were “just rumors” before doubling down on his and the company’s stance:
“We are not interested in being included in any larger entity,” Kiciński stated. “We have worked our whole lives to get to the position we have now. And we believe that in a few years we will be even bigger and stronger. We have ambitious plans and we are passionate about what we do. We value our independence.”
Major acquisitions have been a regular headline within the games industry over the past couple years. Microsoft made a major move to acquire the ZeniMax Media company in 2020 for $7.5 billion, bringing developers like Bethesda, Arkane, iD Software, and Machinegames under their umbrella. The tech giant made an even bigger splash with a massive, industry-shifting $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard in January 2022 that was finalized in October 2023.
In addition to the moves made by Microsoft, Sony purchased Destiny developer Bungie for $3.6 billion, Take-Two bought social/mobile game giant Zynga for $12.7 billion, and Saudi-backed Savvy Games Group acquired Scopely for $4.9 billion, all of which happened in just the past two years.
Kiciński was less dismissive towards the idea of CD Projekt Red acquiring studios in the interview, stating that the company was “open to ideas that could accelerate the implementation of our strategy.” However, he noted that they do not have any plans for acquiring other studios at this time.
CD Projekt Red’s current development plans include an all-new Witcher trilogy that the company hopes will release entirely within a six year window, two other Witcher-related projects, a full-fledged sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 known currently as Project Orion, and a brand new IP currently titled Project Hadar.
Published: Jan 3, 2024 06:57 pm