'Cyberpunk 2077' Creative Director Departs To Join Blizzard Entertainment

Activision Blizzard has seen some rough times lately, with team members being dismissed from Heroes of the Storm, and the shuffling of CFO's and other officers within the company. But it still manages to attract some mainstream talent, including one huge part of CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 team.

Per this report from Resetera, Sebastian Stepien, who served as creative director for the forthcoming sci-fi adventure, has left his position to work with Blizzard Entertainment. While Stepien himself didn't confirm the news, he did recently update his LinkedIn profile to show the change in employment.

Stepien is a long-time veteran with CD Projekt Red, having worked with the company for well over 12 years, including high-profile releases like The Witcher III: Wild Hunt and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. So there's no doubt that CD's loss will become Blizzard's gain.

But now the real question is what he's working on Although it's unknown what project he's contributing to, it appears that he's keeping the creative director title, so it could be something huge.

CD Projekt Red hasn't said anything about the departure, or whether it will affect the release of Cyberpunk 2077 in any way, but they probably would've said something had the game been set to face a lengthy delay. More than likely, they'll continue working on it behind-the-scenes and release it whenever it's ready.

As for where Stepien would serve best at Blizzard, it's anyone's guess, really. Most of their games benefit from strong storytelling; and there's a good chance that he may just be contributing to the likes of Diablo 4 or some unannounced project for the company. It'll certainly benefit from his expertise, that's for sure.

We'll see if CD Projekt Red has anything to say about the departure in the days ahead.

Cyberpunk 2077 doesn't currently have a release date, but it's set to arrive for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC whenever it does get finished.

What do you think about this shift in employment? Sound off on Twitter by reaching me at @TheDCD!