CD Projekt RED - Buys ex-Bioshock Studio

PCGamesN reports on a studio purchase by CD Projekt RED of The Molasses Flood who are ex-Bioshock people.

In a statement today, The Molasses Flood announced that it was joining CD Projekt. Buying an indie studio is an unprecedented move for the studio behind The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, which normally builds all of its projects in-house - from its biggest titles to smaller games like



The statement and accompanying tweet also confirmed that this meant the formerly-indie studio is building "a completely new game in the universe of an existing CD Projekt IP" - meaning The Witcher and Cyberpunk. Beyond that, the statement doesn't reveal much more, other than The Molasses Flood would continue to make "games with heart built on rich gameplay systems".

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I'm very interested in what this new studio of CPDR is working on. Hopefully it's better then the developers past games at least. Probably wont know for a few years though.

They've only developed two games, and the last one was a co-op village builder. Calling it an ex-Bioshock studio just because a few of the guys worked on that game back in the day seems like a stretch.

Does this mean that CDPR won't get purchased by Microsoft or some other giant? I have been expecting that to happen after the problems with CP2077…

Cyberpunk 2077sold over 14+ million copies so despite it's lackluster launch it's still a success. Just not the success CDPR wanted. They just learned a valuable lesson.

Don't announce games way to early and over hype them for seven years.

And don't bite off more than you can chew.

Originally Posted by largh
Does this mean that CDPR won't get purchased by Microsoft or some other giant? I have been expecting that to happen after the problems with CP2077…

I don't see CDPR getting bought out anytime soon. They're a bit of a giant themselves.

Originally Posted by JDR13
a bit of a giant

Sooo… an adolescent regular giant or an adult small giant?

CD Projekt RED has become a media scandal company in my eyes. They don't produce real games anymore that I would play. They just use millions of dollars to create something that people can complain about. Their product is not real attraction, no hype for me, since Witcher 1's sex cards. I could play W1 enhanced edition to about 50%, before the entire experience drowned in boredom..

That doesn't apply to me.
In my case it is Blizzard.

I am deciding whether or not to buy Cyberpunk this week. Can anyone here tell me if it is "fixed"/"playable" with the recent patches?

Originally Posted by gabrielarantest
I am deciding whether or not to buy Cyberpunk this week. Can anyone here tell me if it is "fixed"/"playable" with the recent patches?

I recently concluded my third replay as the outlaw origin. Now I've said it before it you like Witcher III then you will enjoy playing CP 2077. So yes it's very playable.

Hopefully CDPR don't break any part of the game with future patches though.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
I recently concluded my third replay as the outlaw origin. Now I've said it before it you like Witcher III then you will enjoy playing CP 2077. So yes it's very playable.

Hopefully CDPR don't break any part of the game with future patches though.

Oh nice. I guess I will buy then. Thanks!

With 5+ year development cycles for blockbuster games it must be necessary to get other developers involved to avoid the boom, bust cycle and get a steady income coming in. CD Projekt RED simply has too much riding on one game.

Originally Posted by Silver
With 5+ year development cycles for blockbuster games it must be necessary to get other developers involved to avoid the boom, bust cycle and get a steady income coming in. CD Projekt RED simply has too much riding on one game.

Don't forget GOG has also been struggling for many years. The news made the headlines a few years back about cutting staff and running on a red budget. So that's a factor.

They should start making smaller games based on the IPs they own. Not just card games either. I can see them branching out into strategy and other genres with those IP's.

Originally Posted by JDR13
I don't see CDPR getting bought out anytime soon. They're a bit of a giant themselves.

Also referring to what @Silver and @Couchpotato wrote above, I have been thinking about this and don't see CDPR being bought by a giant as an unlikely scenario. Not saying that it will certainly happen but there is a possibility. Why?

Assuming that the media entertainment giants think that game pass or streaming services are the future of gaming as they seem to think about TV and music, some of the giants are still lacking IPs and talented studios to attract people to their service. Ok, Microsoft has recently invested in this and is a less likely candidate. Sony has got its Japanese studios. Valve has Half-life but no other big IPs. They might be too small, though. Disney has Starwars among other big IPs. Amazon and Google have none at the moment and are likely to invest in streaming services or Stadia, respectively, in the foreseeable future. Sure CDPR is a large studio, but its worth is still a fraction of Amazon's or Google's revenue.

What would they get by buying CDPR? Too large IPs with two popular AAA games that could be added to the game pass/streaming service immediately. They would also acquire a talented studio that could make future exclusive AAA games for them. In addition, they would get GOG either out of the way or added to their list of services. Another question is whether CDPR owners are willing to sell. With the gaming community already turning against them due to the CP2077 release, they might be less motivated to keep to their principles.

Originally Posted by largh
What would they get by buying CDPR? Too large IPs with two popular AAA games that could be added to the game pass/streaming service immediately. They would also acquire a talented studio that could make future exclusive AAA games for them. In addition, they would get GOG either out of the way or added to their list of services. Another question is whether CDPR owners are willing to sell. With the gaming community already turning against them due to the CP2077 release, they might be less motivated to keep to their principles.

I think it's a stretch, but yeah, it's not out of the realm of possibility or anything. I don't see it happening though.. at least not in the near future.