Recent Report Indicates CD Projekt RED Execs Will Receive Massive Bonuses Despite Cyberpunk 2077 Launch

It seems that a buggy launch of Cyberpunk 2077 was not enough to prevent CD Projekt RED executives from being the recipient of substantial bonuses, according to recent reporting from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier.

The launch of Cyberpunk 2077 is something the gaming industry is unlikely to forget any time soon. The game was very buggy and outright broken on almost all platforms, with last gen consoles bearing the brunt. Sony pulled the game from its stores and offered refunds for its customers.

CDPR even issued an apology letter with its employees questioning their own leadership over decisions made about launch. However, despite this, it seems those at the top are still walking away with sizable bonuses.

According to Schreier’s reporting, it looks like Cofounder Marcin Iwi?ski and Co-CEO Adam Kici?sk will receive 24 million zloty, or $6.3 million, in bonuses. Adam Badowski, meanwhile, will receive $4.2 million as a board member and Director. This is according to the company’s annual report, which you can read here.

However, it’s not like the employees are receiving nothing. CDPR has a profit-sharing system in place,

“Some employees told Bloomberg they will receive profit-sharing bonuses of about $5,000 to about $9,000, while other more senior employees said they will get closer to $15,000 or $20,000. Managers and directors will likely receive much higher bonuses. In a statement, a CD Projekt spokesperson said that the company had allocated a total of $29.8 million to 865 employees, for an average of about $34,000 each. (Staff also received separate, smaller performance bonuses earlier this year.)”

Still, this raises a question of whether such bonuses and disparity are warranted. According to Schreier’s reporting, the leaders were asked on an investor call whether it was “appropriate” for these board members to receive such massive bonuses. Kici?ski replied that this compensation was “always” bound to CDPR’s profits. He noted,

“We earned this money and the company earned this money, of course, but more net profits, more bonuses. So well, we have results, we get bonuses, and that’s the contract we have.”