CD Projekt keeps generative AI out of Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2 over IP liability
Summary
CD Projekt confirms Witcher 4, Cyberpunk 2, and multiplayer Witcher stay "predominantly" human-made.
"We're not planning to rely on AI making complete games."
Two constraints drive the stance: unresolved IP ownership risk and AAA pipeline complexity.
Nowakowski frames it as a studio judgment call, not an industry standard.
01
AI stays a tool, not a game-maker
Position stated during CD Projekt's latest earnings briefing.
"AI, if anything, is a tool like many others that's helping in places that can maybe become more helpful in the future but we're not planning to rely on AI making complete games."
Policy covers the full active pipeline: Witcher 4 (targeting 2028), Cyberpunk 2, multiplayer Witcher.
"We are still predominantly using people and this is our plan - to make games where we're not walking away from that."
02
IP liability now makes AI assets a default no
Anti-AI clauses became boilerplate in publishing contracts this year.
CD Projekt's core value sits in Witcher and Cyberpunk IP that must stay provably owned.
Generative asset creation risks placing that ownership chain in legal gray territory.
03
AI adoption is near-universal but confined to support tasks
Google survey: 87% of developers already use AI agents, mostly for level design and dialogue.
Japanese developer poll: 100% adoption, concentrated in user preference analysis and behavior prediction.
Neither cohort applies AI to core asset creation, matching CD Projekt's framing.
04
No industry mandate - complexity is the studio-specific driver
Nowakowski declines to generalize the approach industry-wide.
"So whether this is true for the whole industry, I'm not the person to make those statements. I think everybody has to make those judgments on their own."
He ties the objection to his own studio's production complexity.
"Especially with very complex games like ours, I don't even think this is the right or ethical path to follow."
What this means
For Publishers & Developers: AAA IP holders can cite CD Projekt's stance to justify restricting AI to auxiliary tools.
For Service Vendors: Sell AI for level design, dialogue, and analytics - not full asset generation - to AAA studios.
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