The Cyberpunk 2077 launch was one of the most anticipated launches in recent years, making its post-release hardships all of the more shocking. From mismarketing to veiled review restrictions to even game-breaking bugs where many felt last-gen version of the title was something else entirely, it's been a tumultuous post-launch period for the Polish company. With sales-tied bonuses acting as a light at the end of the tunnel, how that bonus was allocated has been made public and sees top-level executives winning big with other employees receiving less than what was expected. 

The report broke over at Bloomberg about post-launch Cyberpunk 2077 bonuses. While the entire staff is expected to get the promised incentives, the numbers don't add up to what was expected. Keep in mind that the gap between executives and the rest of a company is nothing new, but that doesn't mean it's right. More than that, however, the gap between what the execs are getting and what the devs are getting is raising more red flags. Especially given the talk leading up to the game's launch, including members of the team calling out leadership and shareholders on the development road leading up to this point. Before diving into the numbers a little bit here, I do want to call attention to the fact that the original report even states that it's "not all bad," and that the attention surrounding everything that went wrong with Cyberpunk 2077 beyond its glitches has put an effective spotlight on the studio's culture. Mixed messaging, a "wing it" attitude, and poor planning are all just some of the many puzzle pieces that made up this chaotic picture. However, that is changing, and the higher-ups are looking at restructuring to make CDPR a healthier place to work for retentive purposes. This was publicly acknowledged during the financial call, as well. 

Despite a rocky launch and even being de-listed from PSN by Sony, Cyberpunk 2077 was still the biggest selling game for the studio. An annual report document has been released, citing that CDPR CEO Marcin Iwinski is netting a $6.3 million bonus, with co-CEO Adam Kicinski making the same. Board member Adam Badowski is slated to take home an estimated $4.2 million. 

It was relayed to the broader team that the profit-sharing bonuses would range between $5,000 - $9,000, with senior personnel netting anywhere between $15,000 to $20,000. A spokesperson told Bloomberg that there was a total of $29.8 million allocated for bonuses across nearly 870 employees. That number seems odd, given that five CDPR board members netted a total of $28 million. The former number, the $29.8 million, breaks off to be around $34,000 each, according to the spokesperson, in addition to smaller bonuses that were granted earlier this year, including the stock bonuses that were allocated late 2020. 

That being said, even the higher level members of the board took some financial hits as CDPR stock took a sharp dive following the launch chaos and formal investigations into the studio. Even with the knocks, the bonuses that executives received are astronomical and were, according to the CEO, just. "We earned this money and the company earned this money," said Kicinski when he was asked if the top-level bonuses were "appropriate." He added, "But more net profits, more bonuses." 

This isn't the first studio to suffer mismanagement, but the many layers as to why the launch went so wrong dives into several deeper issues within many industries, not just gaming: Management not effectively caring for those that work under them, non-transparency with the public (though they did a phenomenal job at making it look the opposite), and the refusal to make adjustments when certain aspects along the process no longer made sense (e.g. the base PS4 and Xbox One launch). 

The studio has promised to correct the issues the Cyberpunk 2077 launch faces, and has done just that with countless patches post-release. Still, the board of directors needs to be clear about how they are going to make the work environment safer and better for employees; now is not the time for vague replies. That being said, after speaking with a few developers ourselves, there are some that are reporting a feeling of hope that the changes ahead will be good. 

[Source: CDPR via Bloomberg]

IO Interactive is still celebrating the successful launch of its most recent Hitman game, but that doesn't mean that the studio is resting on that alone. In a new report, it is revealed that the studio could very well be working on a brand new fantasy IP for Xbox (in addition to the James Bond game that is also in the works). 

The latest report comes via Windows Central in the video below. In the video, it is revealed that Microsoft has a few exciting projects in the works concurrently, among them being a fantasy game from IO. This is interesting because several weeks ago I had an anonymous message tell me through the social app Tumblr that a game with "dragons" (likely saying this knowing my love for fantasy games) was coming from the Hitman studio, though my trail ended there. Now, Eurogamer is stating that their own sources have seemingly corroborated that message, and the report from Windows Central, stating that it is a AAA game and is years away from being revealed. 

IO working on a new IP isn't a surprise. IO's own Hakan Abrak previously spoke on what's next as part of the GameIndustry.biz keynote when looking back on self-publishing the Hitman franchise. In that video, which you can see here, Abrak talks about the trials and success of the Hitman series and teased that the team is working on a "third universe" that is a "bit different" but something the studio is excited about. With the most recent Barcelona IO location opening up, the dev team is heads-down on working on its next big adventure, including a new James Bond game. 

Whatever the new game aims to be, it's reported that it will be under the Xbox Games Studio umbrella. This will give the studio more resources and more support to see their vision flourish. Xbox, under the leadership of Phil Spencer, has pivoted sharply in the last few years, taking a more aggressive approach to game development that was significantly lacking in the Xbox One era. Aggressive in terms of being unafraid, yet maintaining a creative distance from studios working under its name so that the process remains undisturbed and true to original ideation. 

So what do you think? A fantasy game with dragons? A medieval fantasy game about dragons? Sound off with your thoughts in the comment section below, we'd love to hear what you think!