Andrzej Zawadzki, the Senior Game Designer of Cyberpunk 2077, has unexpectedly announced his departure from CD Projekt Red after 8 years of collaboration. What happened?

Today, the Senior Game Designer of Cyberpunk 2077 announced that he is leaving CD Projekt Red. Andrzej Zawadzki began his journey at CD eight years ago, working on The Witcher 3 as a QA tester before being promoted to the head of the Cyberpunk 2077 game division. 

All of this happened amidst a tumultuous year for CDPR. The company faced numerous severe threats after several delays of Cyberpunk 2077, and when the game finally released, it was filled with bugs and unfinished features. The game was so glitchy that people started demanding refunds. This led to Sony removing Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store. CD Projekt Red promised to fix the issues with Cyberpunk 2077 through a series of patches, but the updates were delayed after a cyberattack inflicted significant damage on the studio. 

Zawadzki announced his departure on Twitter, stating that his journey with CDPR was an "honor and pleasure." He joined CD Projekt Red as a QA tester eight years ago and worked on The Witcher 3 and its DLC. In early 2016, he began working on Cyberpunk 2077 as a junior gameplay designer and later became the senior gameplay designer of the game in March 2020, just one month before its initial release. Zawadzki did not disclose the reasons for his departure or his future plans. 

After almost 8 years, my time at CDPR has come to an end. It's time for the new adventure.
To every person I've met on the way - thank you :) It was an honor and pleasure.
See you around :) pic.twitter.com/Hts3TE9VzW
— Andrzej Zawadzki (@ZawAndy) March 22, 2021

Zawadzki was one of the prominent voices at CDPR who spoke out even when the company faced severe threats. He told his Twitter followers that the threats were "absolutely unacceptable and just awful" and that game developers are "just people like you." 

It is unclear whether Zawadzki will return to his previous role in the project. CDPR still has big plans for Cyberpunk 2077 and intends to improve the game through patches, release updated versions for PS5 and Xbox Series X, as well as free and paid DLC. Cyberpunk 2077 Patch 1.2 is expected to be released soon, although CD Projekt Red has not announced an official release date. The patch will focus on improving the dodge and driving mechanics.