Gaming
CD Projekt RED is bringing on Cyberpunk 2077 modders
Traderain, Nightmarea, Blumster, and rfuzzo are the names being tapped to help support the long-anticipated game that has been off to a rough start.
CD Projekt RED has apparently hired a team of well-known modders from the Cyberpunk 2077 community to help with the backend and the game’s modding support. Representatives for the neon-splashed, open-world RPG have confirmed to both Kotaku and PC Gamer that the news surrounding the recent hires was indeed true.
Traderain, one of the previously mentioned new hires, made the announcement in the Cyberpunk 2077 modding Discord channel the other night. The four of them are high-profile figures in the modding community, especially when it comes to RED engine games — The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077, specifically. Wolvenkit, an open-source project that provides users with a unified modding toolset for both of these games is the crown jewel in the group’s young developmental career(s).
While the rollout of 2077 has left much to be desired with a never-ending series of failed patches, maybe the direct involvement of the community could mark a new beginning. That at least seems to be the hope for the company, which has shot itself in the foot by making huge promises only to come up magnificently short.
The partnership between the community modders and CD Projekt RED will be under Yigsoft, a Budapest-based custom development studio. Yigsoft was founded by Traderain and Nightmarea and will still operate independently, outside of its working relationship with RED.
Is this a new precedent? — After witnessing another entry into the community to studio pipeline, this kind of hiring could become commonplace for other well-known video game developers. Just earlier this month Bethesda Studios brought on Stephanie Zachariadis, the head writer behind Fallout: London, a massive Fallout 4 mod. The action would at least send the message that the companies behind our favorite titles are at least keeping an ear to the ground.
As for Cyberpunk 2077, we can only hope that the game gets a second wind. Whether or not the addition of the Yigsoft team can actually solve the litany of bugs bogging down the game will remain to be seen. If the game fails to reach a stable point it may go down as one of the biggest busts in recent memory. Here’s to hoping that doesn’t come to fruition.
