CD Projekt Red lays off 9 from Project Sirius multiplayer Witcher game
The troubled four-year-old project loses staff as CD Projekt shifts development strategy.
Conversation activity · last 14 hours peak 7/30m
Latest coverage newest 6 of 17 items
Summary, timeline and people extracted by Claude from 18 items across 3 sources · 1h ago. Quotes are verbatim.
What to know
- CD Projekt Red laid off 9 employees and internally reassigned 9 others from Project Sirius on August 12, citing a strategic shift; the team shrinks from 83 to 65 people.
- This is the second major restructuring for the troubled multiplayer Witcher spin-off since its 2022 announcement—29 were laid off during a 2023 reboot.
- The project had appeared to gain momentum in early 2026 with the hiring of a Destiny 2 writer, making the latest cuts unexpected.
How it unfolded
-
Reaction Gaming community reacts on Mastodon
Users on Mastodon comment on the layoffs, with one observer framing it as symptomatic of live-service games not delivering promised returns.
“That pivot to live service really isn't panning out for a lot of studios tryna chase that paper!”
majorlinux@toot.majorshouse.com · Mastodon ↗ -
CD Projekt Red confirms the layoffs to Kotaku: four staff in Boston and five in Warsaw are departing; nine others are invited to internal recruitment processes. The company states it adjusted team size to reflect project needs.
“We adjusted the size of the Sirius team to reflect the project's needs at this stage of development.”
CD Projekt Red · Mastodon ↗ -
Kotaku breaks the news that nine staff have been laid off from the Project Sirius team, with another nine being moved to other internal projects, citing a broader shift in development strategy.
- 24 weeks quiet
-
Event CDPR hires Destiny 2 writer for Project Sirius
CD Projekt Red brings in acclaimed writer Kwan Perng as lead writer, signaling momentum and renewed investment in the project.
- 61 weeks quiet
-
Event CD Projekt acquires Molasses Flood, brings Sirius in-house
The developer behind Project Sirius is acquired by CD Projekt Red to continue development internally.
- 104 weeks quiet
-
Event Project Sirius rebooted, 29 developers laid off
After re-evaluating the scope and commercial potential of the original concept, CD Projekt Red initiates a major restructuring with significant staff reduction.
- 52 weeks quiet
-
Event CD Projekt announces Project Sirius multiplayer Witcher game
Project Sirius is revealed as a Witcher spin-off combining single-player and multiplayer elements, developed by then-external studio Molasses Flood.
What people are saying verbatim
“We adjusted the size of the Sirius team to reflect the project's needs at this stage of development.”
CD Projekt Red, Game developer · Kotaku ↗ · Aug 11
“That pivot to live service really isn't panning out for a lot of studios tryna chase that paper!”
majorlinux@toot.majorshouse.com, Mastodon user · Mastodon ↗ · Aug 11
“Project Sirius has seemingly been struggling over the course of its development.”
Kotaku, Gaming news outlet · Kotaku
“Kotaku understands the project had been going relatively well recently, following some changes made this past spring.”
Kotaku, Gaming news outlet · Kotaku ↗
The conversation positions from the crowd, verbatim
Social media commentary on the layoffs focuses on the perennial problem of live-service game development ambitions failing to deliver returns. The limited discussion centers on industry trends rather than Project Sirius specifically.
Live-service pivots are failing across the industry and this is symptomatic of studios chasing quick money.
-
“That pivot to live service really isn't panning out for a lot of studios tryna chase that paper!”
majorlinux@toot.majorshouse.com · Mastodon ↗