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The Molasses Flood, an indie studio founded in 2014 by a group of developers with experience on titles like BioShock, Halo 2, and Guitar Hero, was acquired by CD Projekt in 2021. The Molasses Flood has been at work on the untitled Witcher multiplayer game Project Sirius ever since, but now CDPR has fully taken the studio's reins.
As of April 1, The Molasses Flood has ceased operations as "a separate legal entity," as noted on the studio's official website (via Game Developer). This doesn't mean that the studio is gone or the developers are being laid off – at least, there have been no layoff announcements alongside this news – but rather that the studio is now straight-up a part of CD Projekt proper.
The move was quietly announced in March as part of CD Projekt's last financial report, where joint CDPR CEO Michał Nowakowski noted that "we have decided to integrate The Molasses Flood team into our studio's structure by merging the company with CD PROJEKT RED Inc." in order to "ensure even better alignment in the scope and direction of the project."
Nowakowski added that while this move "naturally entails some changes in the project leadership," Project Sirius "itself is proceeding." The exact details of those leadership changes have not yet been disclosed, but it seems at least one of the studio's co-founders has decided to make this his exit point from the company.
"I've decided not to follow TMF on this transition," Damian Isla, who served in various leadership roles on Project Sirius, said in a LinkedIn post. "So last Monday – the last day of TMF's legal existence! – was also my last day at the studio."
Isla also said that "this is a GOOD AND HEALTHY thing for the studio, and it was long-expected. It breaks down some organizational barriers and better integrates the TMF team with the rest of the amazing CDPR org.
"Overall, it shows a very bright future for Project Sirius (aka 'the multiplayer Witcher game,' of which I was the Design Director for three years). It's going to be an amazing game, one for the books, and I cannot wait until the rest of the world learns about what we've been working on."
Before its acquisition by CDPR, The Molasses Flood developed two indie games, The Flame in the Flood and Drake Hollow, both of which launched to generally positive sentiment but were not breakout success stories. After the buyout, Project Sirius was one of many announcements about upcoming CD Projekt Red games back in 2022.
While we don't know much about the game beyond its multiplayer focus, we do know that there's been some struggle in its development, which was rebooted in 2023. Here's hoping this absorption works out well for both the game itself and the devs who are building it.
