Cyberpunk 2077: Journalists called out for allegedly fabricating 'crunch narratives' for clicks

Studio Projekt Red's upcoming magnum opus, 'Cyberpunk 2077', is one of the most anticipated games of the year and is scheduled to release on the 19th of November.

While the hype surrounding the game continues to remain astronomical, the past few days have been rather forgetful for the makers of the game. This is due to the 'Crunch debate,' which all began when a prominent game journalist for Bloomberg, Jason Schreier, reported that CD Projekt Red has made it mandatory for employees to work overtime.

Many developers on Cyberpunk 2077, one of the most hotly anticipated games of 2020, have been working overtime hours for months if not years now. But this call for six-day work weeks, "mandatory" crunch, directly reneges on what CDPR's bosses told me last year.

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) September 29, 2020

Here is why it's news: "Last year, the bosses of CD Projekt Red approached me for an interview. They wanted to announce that for Cyberpunk 2077, they would be avoiding mandatory crunch.This week, they sent out an email to staff announcing studio-wide mandatory crunch."

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) September 29, 2020

Crunch is often used to denote a period of excessive overtime, which is usually imposed to hasten up the process leading up to the official release date. When it comes to Cyberpunk 2077, the reason why this is so controversial is due to the alleged hypocrisy of the makers, as they had previously assured employees that they would not have to work overtime.

However, this turned out to be a false sense of assurance, as according to Jason Schreier, the Studio Head of CD Projekt Red sent out an entirely different mail to employees:

A company embracing crunch culture doesn't make it evil or malicious or an industry villain. But I've never seen so many people jumping through hoops to try to deny or underplay reality the way they're doing for CD Projekt Red and Cyberpunk 2077

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) October 9, 2020

Schreier's recent tweets come in the light of mounting criticism, as a section of the online community believes that the Cyberpunk 2077's image has now been marred by his controversial report.

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CD Projekt Red Employees speak out in defense of Cyberpunk 2077

In a recent video by Jeremy Habley of TheQuartering, he addresses the entire 'Crunch fiasco,' which seems to be surrounding Cyberpunk 2077. He goes on to call out numerous journalists who have reported on this issue.

He debunks the allegations against the makers of Cyberpunk 2077 and goes on to address the heart of the matter:

"The reality is that CD Projekt Red employees voted, they had the option to extend the game another six weeks pr work six days a week to get the game done . They overwhelmingly voted in favour of finishing the game. These game journalists wrote these pieces and it affected them so negatively that they were actually afraid to celebrate the game going gold".

"To be fair, I am sure that there are companies where crunch is taken advantage of but this just wasn't the case, this was a case of an absolute thirst for clickbait. "

For further proof that it was a decision taken willingly by Cyberpunk 2077 employees themselves, take a look at this tweet, which involves a clip from Game Informer:

BREAKING: @gameinformer reports, citing CDPR sources, that the #Cyberpunk2077 "crunch" story was blown out of proportion & some devs were even scared to celebrate the game going gold.CDPR did consider delaying again but mass majority of devs supported extra day for 6 weeks. pic.twitter.com/hUip5hHX7m

— Michael (@LegacyKillaHD) October 9, 2020

In the clip, one of the spokespersons can be heard speaking about the difference in Polish work atmospheres and how most of the employees at CD Projekt Red do not see this as a 'Crunch situation':

"In terms of crunch, everyone I talked to over there, has not seen it as a crunch and from what I'm understanding is that it wasn't just a random drop , there was a discussion beforehand about weighing the different options. "

Jason Schreier's aforementioned tweet on Cyberpunk 2077 seems to have touched upon a real raw nerve, as several from the online community criticized him for trying to spin his own 'malicious' narrative:

Check out some of the reactions online:

I’ve never seen someone jump through as many as you do when looking to misrepresent situations. You know exactly how you worded this tweet and you know it doesn’t align with what was said. Not sure when you became a bully, but it’s a real shame because you are so incredible.

— Liana Ruppert (@DirtyEffinHippy) October 9, 2020

Again, the context? Not there in the tweet. This is why I don’t do a lot of “takes” on Twitter, too much nuance gets shelved, too much context gets lost. This is so disappointing to see. https://t.co/r41hPFJju4

— Liana Ruppert (@DirtyEffinHippy) October 9, 2020

No crunch doesn't make a company evil but sometimes your reporting does tend to paint these companies as such. I went through a lot of your articles for my law review comment and I know you're passionate on this subject but you have to realize that you're making them look evil.

— Will Selfridge (@wcselfridge) October 9, 2020

To be honest Jason you have benefited from this notion that crunch culture = bad company with your many articles on this subject. Literally any industry with 'deadlines' go through the same issues.

— Tahsin Haque (@TahsinHaque89) October 9, 2020

"A company embracing crunch culture doesn't make it evil or malicious or an industry villain." why do you try so hard to make them look like that then.

— Mundo Conocido (@escicornio) October 9, 2020

Despite the backlash, Jason Schreier continues to stand by his ground and the fact that there was no 'element of choice involved, while making the Crunch decision:

UPDATE 3: Jason Schreier reached out to his CDPR sources & again disputes GameInformer's reporting on #Cyberpunk2077 crunch.Also here's my video on this whole mess: https://t.co/SeS3CCzoYk pic.twitter.com/bCOqpjpIy8

— Michael (@LegacyKillaHD) October 9, 2020

Irrespective of the Crunch controversy which Cyberpunk 2077 currently finds itself embroiled in, the hype surrounding the game continues to be immense, as November 19th draws closer.

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