A group of developers who worked on Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 aims for an ambitious goal – changing the gaming industry.
Mateusz Kanik worked with CD Projekt Red since 2006 and contributed to all three The Witcher Games as well as Cyberpunk 2077. After 15 years, he left them in 2022. Now, together with Mikołaj Marchewka (Rookiez from Warsaw), Jędrzej Mróz and Marcin Jefimow (Cyberpunk 2077 production directors), he founded a new studio: Blank.
They're joined by Artur Ganszyniec (lead story designer The Witcher) as narrative director, Grzegorz Przybyś (The Witcher 3 concept arts) as art director and Michał Dobrowolski (Gwent) as the design director. The team of ten members at the moment wants to expand up to 60 and change the way, the gaming industry works. Not a small goal to reach for.
How Blank Wants To Change The Gaming Industry
For years, we've seen unfinished games thrown onto the market time and again, including Cyberpunk 2077, which some of this team were involved in. The developers themselves are often unhappy with the results, but are encouraged by the time pressure to work quick and dirty instead of taking the time they actually need.
When they are given the time and the people involved put their heart and soul into it, we get wonderful games that sweep us away.
- Speaking of games that carry you away: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
That's what CD Projekt Red did with The Witcher. That's exactly what Blank. wants to do once again:
Games are fun and can be great, meaningful entertainment. Creating them should also be fun, satisfying, and professionally fulfilling – That was our thought after crafting great video games in many different places over decades in the industry. We still don’t have a golden rule on how to make great games. What we do have, however, are lessons learned and hard-earned ideas for improvement.
Also, they declared to give ownership to the creative team as a whole instead of relying on a single individual. In an industry that leans on crunch time with inhumane work hours per week, Blank. wants to value the work-life balance of their team and overall prefers quality over quantity.
- We'll have to wait for their first game, so you could kill the time with Diablo IV
The New Game From Witcher & Cyberpunk Devs
Blank. is already working on its first game. Of course, there's not much known about it right now. Blank. stated that they had their share of crafting huge open world games and now want to focus on smaller goals.
Its new game will be a character driven story in an apocalyptic setting, but they didn't share more details than that, except that they want to craft a unique and emotional story.
Blank. promised to share new information about their game as soon as the time is right. And you know what? I think it is an amazing idea, and I'm sure looking forward to getting a story driven game from this team of proven developers.
