Summary
- Adam Kicinski, CEO of CD Projekt Red, is stepping down and taking on a new role as chief strategy officer within the company starting in 2024.
- Kicinski has been with CDPR since its inception and played a major role in the company's success, including leading it through highs like The Witcher 3's success and lows like Cyberpunk 2077's troubled launch.
- Current chief creative officer Adam Badowski and chief commercial officer Michał Nowakowski will take over as joint CEOs of CDPR starting in January 2024.
- Kicinski will oversee CD Projekt Red's activities and issue recommendations within the larger CD Projekt Capital Group.
Adam Kicinski, the longtime CEO of CD Projekt Red, is stepping down from his current position and moving into a new role over the coming year. Kicinski has been a part of CDPR since its inception, joining founders Marcin Iwiński and Michał Kicinski (who is Adam’s brother) in 1994. Back then, the Polish studio was known simply as CD Projekt and mainly localized games like the first two Baldur's Gate entries before rebranding as CD Projekt Red in 2002 and striking out on its own with the first Witcher game a few years later.
In the many years since CD Project’s humble beginnings, Adam Kicinski has served in several different positions. He worked as a marketing director from 1999 to 2004, a co-director in 2004, a director in 2006, and eventually president and CEO of CD Project Group from 2010 onwards. During his nearly 30 years as part of CDPR, Kicinski has led the company through many highs and lows, from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s blockbuster success in 2015 to Cyberpunk 2077’s infamous 2020 launch and eventual redemption - which has culminated in the release of the Phantom Liberty DLC.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Is Already a Massive Sales Success
In its latest earnings call, CD Projekt reveals that the Phantom Liberty DLC for Cyberpunk 2077 is already off to a promising start for the company.
Now Adam Kicinski is leaving his long-held position and moving on to a supervising role within CD Projekt Red starting next year. This announcement was made on October 5, when Kicinski revealed that he will transfer to the role of chief strategy officer as of January 2024 as part of a larger shake-up within CD Projekt Red’s upper management structure. Current chief creative officer Adam Badowski and chief commercial officer Michał Nowakowski will then take his place as joint CEOs of CDPR on January 1.
In his new position, Adam Kicinski will oversee the activities of CD Projekt Red and issue recommendations and adopt resolutions within the larger CD Projekt Capital Group. Coincidentally, CD Projekt co-founder and former joint CEO Marcin Iwiński joined this same supervisory board last October - just as CD Projekt Red opened a new studio in Boston to help work on its large slate of upcoming Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077 games.
Adam Kicinski’s announcement coincided with news that Cyberpunk 2077 has sold over 25 million units, as well as the announcement of a live-action Cyberpunk project that aims to capitalize on the success of last year’s Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime series. Kicinski has been a major player in CD Projekt Red since the very beginning, but now he is stepping aside and moving to a new position within the company he helped make a household name within the gaming industry effective next year.
Source: IGN