#009: The Lore of Two Worlds:Cyberpunk vs. Witcher

The AnsweRED podcast moved to Łódź for the one and only Promised Land Art Festival! We’ve lined up a special series of episodes to spotlight the incredible talents attending this event. But what better way to kick things off than by chatting with the visionaries who brought this festival to life? Welcome to the 10th episode, featuring our Festival Directors — Paweł Mielniczuk, Małgorzata Sawnor, and Sebastian Kalemba, who’s both our guest and host this time! They all sat down with Paweł Burza to dive into the inspiring

IIn the ninth episode of the AnsweRED Podcast, our hosts, Sebastian Kalemba and Paweł Burza, are joined by our experts Patrick Mills, Franchise Content Strategy Lead, and Cian Maher, Franchise & Lore Designer. In this episode, we dive into how our Franchise and Lore team came together and explore the diverse backgrounds of our members. Discover which team member knows The Witcher almost as well as Andrzej Sapkowski, who initially struggled with The Witcher 2 but eventually came back to it, and what it’s like to work with Mike Pondsmith. Plus, we’ve got plenty more insights and passion to share!

In the eight episode of the AnsweRED Podcast, our hosts, Sebastian Kalemba and Paweł Burza, are joined by P.T. Adamczyk, Senior Composer - Coordinator and Mateusz Szymański, Lead Sound Designer. This episode is packed with insights into the composing and sound design process, including a look at how we made the sounds for GWENT, The Witcher, and Cyberpunk 2077, career tips for those aspiring to work in game dev, conversations about the creative process, and much, much more!

In the seventh episode of the AnsweRED Podcast, our hosts, Sebastian Kalemba and Paweł Burza, are joined by Paweł Sasko, our Associate Game Director and Dan Hernberg, Acting Executive Producer. This episode is packed with insights, advice, and much more, including conversations about differences in communication styles between Americans and Poles, setting up Project Orion in Boston, book recommendations, and much more!

In the sixth episode of the AnsweRED Podcast, our hosts Sebastian Kalemba and Paweł Burza are joined by our Art Directors Paweł Mielniczuk and Lucjan Więcek. Our hosts sat down with Paweł and Lucjan to discuss what comes first: story or art, what are their sources of inspiration, how is an Art Director similar to an orchestra conductor, how do they balance the real world with the world of fantasy, what is the significance of the Promised Land Art Festival and our commitment to unity in art, and much more.

In the fifth episode of the AnsweRED Podcast, our hosts Sebastian Kalemba and Paweł Burza are joined by English Adaptation Director Borys Pugacz-Muraszkiewicz and Localization Director Mikołaj Szwed. Our hosts sat down with Borys and Mikołaj to discuss what separates adaptation and localization from translation, how they created the language of Cyberpunk 2077, their thought processes during casting and recording, and much more.

In the fourth episode of the AnsweRED Podcast, our hosts Sebastian Kalemba and Paweł Burza are joined by two special guests: Jane Perry, the voice of Rogue, and Minji Chang, who brings Songbird to life in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. Our hosts sat down with Jane and Minji to discover how they got their start in the industry, what makes voice acting for games different from acting in other projects, and which characters they feel the most connected to. Our guests also shared insights into their time recording lines for Cyberpunk 2077, how they developed the characters, and much more!

In the third episode of the AnsweRED Podcast, our hosts, Sebastian Kalemba and Paweł Burza, are joined by Comic Book and Animation Narrative Director Bartosz Sztybor and VP of Business Development Jan Rosner to venture into the land of business development and franchises! This episode is packed with inspiring thoughts on collaborations of all kinds. Hear about how we choose who we want to partner up with and how dream collaborations, like with Dawid Podsiadło, turn into a reality. This episode also draws from our work on Cyberpunk: Edgerunners to explore the role of business development in game dev — and why taking risks is so important. And last but not least, get to know all about what it feels like to win a prestigious Hugo Award!

In the second episode of the AnsweRED Podcast, our hosts Sebastian Kalemba and Paweł Burza are joined by Lead Quest Designer Błażej Augustynek and Narrative Director Philipp Weber to talk about great quests and how to make them! Tune into an insightful discussion about designing morally gray choices, the process of iterating a quest from pen-and-paper into the game engine, whether our devs think of male or female V as the “real” V, and much more!

In the first episode, Story Directors Marcin Blacha & Tomasz Marchewka join hosts Sebastian and Paweł to talk about creating captivating stories in our games! Together, they will discuss the role of story in the game development process, collaborating between writers and other developers, and the importance of narrative. Have you ever wanted to learn more about the people behind Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher games, or about the culture inside CD PROJEKT RED itself? Then you’re in the right place. Welcome to the AnsweRED Podcast — hosted by Sebastian Kalemba, VP and Game Director of the upcoming game set in the world of The Witcher, and Paweł Burza, Senior Communication Manager. Together with guests, they will unveil the secrets of game development and dive deep into our day-to-day tasks — as well as things that inspire us as creators! Meet the minds behind the things that define us: storytelling ingenuity, technical innovation, and absolute quality. Expect unique and honest discussions about our projects, game development processes, culture, and the unique way we operate. In each episode, our top experts from different fields will share their insight into their roles and strategies, discussing the challenges they've overcome and the experience they gained along the way — all of which has contributed to the company's success over the years. In the future, we aim to extend invitations to game developers from all around the world, with the intention of establishing a platform that fosters inspiring discussions and diverse viewpoints, while also facilitating collaborations within the game developer space. Let’s get started!