CD Projekt Red forms Vancouver studio with acquisition of Cyberpunk and Dying Light contributor

CD Projekt has struck a deal to acquire Digital Scapes, a Vancouver-based development studio which contributed to Dying Light and more recently Cyberpunk 2077.

Digital Scapes was formed in 2012 by industry veterans from the likes of BioWare, Radical Entertainment and Relic, and currently employs around a dozen experienced game makers.

It partnered with Techland to create Dying Light’s Be the Zombie invasion mode before signing a long-term partnership with CD Projekt Red to work on Cyberpunk 2077 in 2018.

Paweł Zawodny, head of production and chief technical officer at CD Projekt Red, said “the hugely talented Digital Scapes crew is the perfect foundation upon which to build a wider CD Projekt Red Vancouver team”.

It will join the studio’s Poland-based development teams based in Warsaw, Kraków and Wrocław to jointly work on its upcoming projects.

“For three years we have been closely working together, and we trust them completely,” Zawodny said. “Digital Scapes have put in a great deal of work during the making of Cyberpunk 2077, assisting with development of the game and optimizing its various features.

“In addition to contributing to our projects the new team will help us perfect our technologies and will broaden our competences in this respect.”

Further reading

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Vancouver studio head Marcin Chudy also commented: “Being a Polish Canadian, I personally take great satisfaction in building bridges between Canadian and Polish game development industries.

“This is a great opportunity for Canadian developers to get involved with CD Projekt Red’s incredible IP and for CD Projekt Red to tap into Canada’s deep talent pool and game-making craft.”

CD Projekt Red released Cyberpunk 2077’s 1.2 update on Monday, which includes over 500 improvements to graphics, stability and more.

Designed to address the remaining prominent issues on last-gen consoles, the patch was originally due to be released in February but its launch was delayed after the studio fell victim to a cyber attack.

CD Projekt said on Tuesday that its future games will have “much shorter” marketing campaigns following various issues with how it communicated Cyberpunk 2077.

President Adam Kiciński also revealed that CD Projekt has “reconsidered” its plans to release a triple-A Cyberpunk multiplayer game, suggesting the project may have been cancelled.