Photo by Maria Dhilla
This morning, Polish video game developer CD Projekt Red posted a video to their Twitter detailing their next “earth-shattering” project. Coming fresh off the heels of their latest release Cyberpunk 2077 — a “critical disaster that is near unplayable thanks to the high volume of bugs and glitches” — the studio set their sights even higher with Project Simutorium X. The promotional video states that this project will definitively prove simulation theory, which posits that there is a likely chance that our reality is actually just a computer simulation. Experts say that finding physical evidence for this theory would require a futuristic super computer — which would necessitate an enormous leap in technology. CD Projekt Red claims that they have discovered said leap, but many are skeptical as CD Projekt Red have so far been lax with details.
The promotional video for Project Simutorium X features Andrzej Nowicki, the Lead Vision Director of CD Projekt Red, making vague statements about the game over footage from the studio’s previous release The Witcher 3. Nowicki said in the video that the project would “break all previous notions of what a video game can be.” He went on to say their goal with this project was “not to make a video game, but instead create an experience that players will want to pour their time, heart, money, soul, and life into.” Magdalena Walczak, Lead Technical Overseer at the studio, says that, “the studio will smash past current hardware limitations by creating ultra powerful chips made specifically to perfectly re-create the universe and everything in it, right from the comfort of your own home.” The trailer ended with a series of flashy graphic effects before fading in the words: “coming soon.”
Many users online have expressed concern over the scale of the project. In response, the official CD Projekt Red Twitter account tweeted: “Who do you think we are, EA? Bethesda? Do you really think we would make promises about an upcoming project and not keep them?” The tweet ended with three smiling emojis, followed by three laughing emojis, and ending with one winky face emoji.
While the executives in the video seemed to be quite ecstatic about their new project, it does not seem like that sentiment is shared throughout the staff at the studio. A statement was given to the press by an anonymous source saying that, “nobody from the programing team was consulted about this project and a majority of the staff found out about it through the Twitter video.” The employee then brings up the fact that the studio doesn’t even have a hardware division, and therefore does not possess the capability to produce the hardware promised in the video. “We couldn’t even get basic collision to work in Cyberpunk 2077,” said the employee. “How the hell do they expect us to create a Dyson sphere, or whatever they need to run their coked-out Sims game?” The anonymous leaker finished their report by describing how employees are “setting up tents and lighting bonfires” in the office in preparation for the “186-hour work weeks” ahead of them.
