# 348. Why None of Us Saw Cyberpunk Coming Apart I Michal Nowakowski. joint CEO, CD PROJEKT RED

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/deconstructor-of-fun-223878/348-why-none-of-us-saw-cyberpunk-coming-apart-i-michal-nowakowski-joint-ceo-cd-projekt-red
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/deconstructor-of-fun-223878/348-why-none-of-us-saw-cyberpunk-coming-apart-i-michal-nowakowski-joint-ceo-cd-projekt-red.md
Podcast: [Deconstructor of Fun](https://stenobird.com/podcast/deconstructor-of-fun-223878)
Published: 2026-09-14T10:50:04+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/deconstructoroffun/episodes/348--Why-None-of-Us-Saw-Cyberpunk-Coming-Apart-I-Michal-Nowakowski--joint-CEO--CD-PROJEKT-RED-e3oqsd5
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/500026c/podcast/play/125710181/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-8-14%2F431855804-44100-2-950754cbb9177.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/deconstructor-of-fun-223878/episodes/348-why-none-of-us-saw-cyberpunk-coming-apart-i-michal-nowakowski-joint-ceo-cd-projekt-red
Duration seconds: 3755

## Resource

Cyberpunk 2077 sold 13 million copies in ten days, then Sony pulled it from the PlayStation Store. CD Projekt Red joint CEO Michal Nowakowski was the one taking the calls.He walks through what actually broke, why the investors weren't the reason, and how the studio went from a Polish box distributor to owning The Witcher outright. Plus the transmedia strategy, the move to Unreal Engine 5, and why Poland built the strongest gaming ecosystem in Europe.Chapters 00:00 From Polish distributor to a global studio 04:43 Buying The Witcher rights 08:15 Why owning the IP was non-negotiable 14:12 Poland's coding culture and the talent pipeline 18:54 Scaling to 350 developers on The Witcher 3 26:16 The Cyberpunk 2077 launch and the hardest week 34:03 The decision to fix the game instead of cutting losses 39:14 Unreal Engine 5 and rebuilding production 43:51 Transmedia, Netflix, and keeping games at the center 49:49 What makes the Polish gaming ecosystem work

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## Transcript

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