Did you know that CD Projekt is, in fact, a company that’s distinct from CD Projekt Red? I did, but that’s only because my days are often occupied with polite but firm emails from PR representatives who are quite particular about these sorts of minutiae. Thankfully, the company has recognized that this state of affairs is extremely confusing, and is unifying its name to make things more consistent.
CD Projekt (without the Red) was founded back in 1994 as a distributor bringing foreign video games to the Polish market. CD Projekt Red was founded in 2002, and that name represents the development studio responsible for The Witcher and Cyberpunk games. Over time, the two names became basically synonymous in the minds of players, and while CD Projekt Red was technically a subsidiary of the broader CD Projekt, the company had a heck of a time getting anyone to recognize the difference.
Now, as part of an effort “ensure full brand consistency and facilitate the identification of the Company with its products on the global market,” the whole thing is going to be known as CD Projekt Red. The announcement was buried in one of the company’s recent reports, but was soon noted by Polish financial site Bankier.pl (thanks, GamesIndustry.biz).
I choose to believe that we – that is, the general gaming world – have bullied the whole of CD Projekt into appending that “Red” by resolutely refusing to recognize the company and its development house as separate entities. Remember when CDPR insisted that The Witcher 4 was not called The Witcher 4, up until the very moment it was confirmed to be called The Witcher 4? Same principle. This is the power of refusing to accept corporate brand guidelines as a restriction on actual language.
Here are all the upcoming CD Projekt Red games you need to know about.
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