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CD Projekt Red
CD Projekt Red is a Polish publisher and producer of computer games with headquarters in Warsaw and branches in Kraków, Wrocław and Los Angeles. The first company operating under the name CD Projekt was founded in 1994 by Marcin Iwiński and Michał Kiciński. The current parent company of the group, CD Projekt, is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. 1)
The Witcher has over one million lines of code
The Witcher 3 has over one million lines of code. It has 1,135,617, to be exact. 2)
CD Projekt started off selling copies of Baldur’s Gate in Poland
The company approached BioWare and Interplay to provide the Polish localization, which they agreed to, believing that the RPG could find quite a large market in Poland. They started working on a PC port for the sequel, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, after its success, although that was canceled six months later due to financial problems with Interplay. CD Projekt would eventually launch their game development subsidiary, CD Projekt RED, in 2002, wondering whether they should proceed as a distributor or game developer. 3)
Another studio almost made The Witcher
It was already being developed by another studio, Metropolis Software, and originally conceived as an open world adventure before The Witcher dropped into the laps of CD Projekt RED. After the game's production went through a bit of chaos, CD Projekt acquired Metropolis Software, and after the release of The Witcher, they merged with CD Projekt RED to work on The Witcher 2. 4)
The Witcher 2 was built on The Witcher 3's engine
CD Projekt RED doubled down on exploring and designing a new engine for consoles after the success of The Witcher, which would ultimately become the basis for building on both Witcher sequels. They were also working hard on designing an engine for The Witcher 3 at about the same time that the studio started design work for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. This engine will continue to be known as the RED Engine. 5)
EA was once rumoured to acquire CD Projekt
A rumour started going around during the late 2000s that Electronic Arts was in negotiations to acquire CD Projekt. Of course, Iwiński, who took a firm stand against the proposal as he wanted CD Projekt to preserve their independence, quickly debunked this rumour. 6)
Stand against DRM created GOG.com
During the time, CD Projekt was very outspoken about the DRM policies introduced in video games, and took a very strong stance against the idea. It was something they thought severely restricted games, and the gaming industry only inspired piracy to some degree of damage. As a result, as a way to sell classic, DRM-free games online, CD Projekt introduced the GOG.com (or Good Old Games) website.7)
Cyberpunk 2077 development began before The Witcher 3
They purchased the rights to Cyberpunk 2020, Mike Pondsmith's tabletop RPG. By publishing a trailer in 2012, they revealed the game. The developer instead shifted the emphasis to The Witcher 3: Wild Chase, leaving the game in a bit of a limbo over the next few years, despite having major aspirations for Cyberpunk 2077. When the team finished work on the final expansion of The Witcher 3, Blood & Wine, in 2016, successful production only kicked into high gear. 8)