Michał Nowakowski, joint CEO at CD Projekt, the parent company of The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077 developer, shut down a question during an earnings webcast about AI being used to "reduce headcount." The person asking the question describes "numerous reports that AI is making many people redundant", a claim Nowakowski adamantly refutes.
During CD Projekt's investor audio webcast for Q3 2025 earnings, someone asks whether AI tools can reduce headcount without compromising quality. "How would you describe the current availability of IT talent at your studios given numerous reports that AI is making many people redundant," the person asks. "Can you imagine that you can reduce headcount thanks to AI tools in the near future without any harm to work on your next projects?"
Initially, Nowakowski seems taken aback by the question, unsure if they're talking about IT or developers. "We are not really hiring 'classic IT,' he says. "But I understand this is supposed to be about gaming industry talent – the availability of talent has perhaps increased a bit over the past three years, but I’m not sure I’d actually ascribe it to AI."
He also disputes that layoffs and redundancies in the gaming industry as a whole are due to AI's benefits, instead attributing them to project cancellations. "To be perfectly honest," Nowakowski says. "Some studios have been going through turmoil; there were some project closures and so on, which led to many redundancies in the gaming industry; we’ve all seen that – it’s been very dramatic in many cases – but – literally kill me here, but I don’t recall a single time when it would be attributable directly to AI. At least I don’t know about that. And as for reducing headcount thanks to AI – I don’t imagine that."
This doesn't mean CD Projekt is opposed to using AI. In fact, he calls the benefits of the tech "meaningful" and "real," but he just doesn't see it replacing human developers. "Our usage of AI is mainly in the productivity areas, and that’s where we see the largest benefits of that. The benefits are real, they’re meaningful, but it’s not a situation – and I’m unaware of such a situation – where AI could 'sit down and make games'. That’s our take. It doesn’t mean it’s not gonna be useful, but it’s not gonna be making The Witcher 5, or 6, or anything like that."
