BioWare Vet Warns CD Projekt Red's Big RPG Ambitions Are 'Dangerous'

Ever wonder what it takes for a blockbuster RPG to actually turn a profit these days? According to one BioWare veteran, the bar is now terrifyingly high—and CD Projekt Red might be standing right in the danger zone.

Mark Darrah, who co-directed Dragon Age: Origins and executive produced Anthem, shared his concerns in an interview for the Summer Eternal Anthology (via Rock Paper Shotgun). He points to GTA 6 as the elephant in the room, noting how its sheer scale has warped the industry's expectations. Developers and publishers keep chasing that next Grand Theft Auto-sized hit, and Darrah thinks that dream is a trap. "If that all goes away, then you'll get a bunch of room to make it work with titles that need to sell 3-4 million units," he says. Think games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33—smaller, smarter, and "much more attractive" from a business standpoint.

Why? Because the alternative is brutal. "I don't want to be working on something like GTA, where if this thing doesn't sell 50 million units, it's going to lose money," Darrah explains. "That's insane." And he worries CD Projekt Red is now trapped in that same massive-scale space. "Their games now need to sell 15, 20 million units to make money," he says. "That's a really dangerous place to be."

He's got a point. Even with a powerhouse IP like The Witcher, moving 15-20 million copies is no small feat. It's not just about having a loyal fanbase—it's about hitting numbers that only a handful of games ever reach. And CDPR isn't exactly slowing down. The studio is juggling The Witcher 4, Cyberpunk 2, and the mysterious Project Hadar, which just moved from world-building into prototype testing. That's a lot of irons in the fire.

Of course, CDPR isn't ignoring the risks. The Witcher 4 dev is "still predominantly using people" over AI in development, according to the CEO, though he adds that "everybody has to make those judgments on their own." It's a reminder that even as budgets balloon, the human element remains central—at least for now.

So what does this mean for you, the player? If Darrah's warning holds weight, we could see more studios pivoting toward mid-sized projects that don't need to sell tens of millions to survive. That might mean more creative risks, more niche gems, and fewer bloated blockbusters that play it safe. Or it could mean CDPR doubles down on its epic RPG formula, hoping the gamble pays off.

Either way, the next few years will be telling. Will The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2 hit those lofty sales targets, or will the industry learn to embrace smaller wins? What do you think—are you more excited for massive RPGs or the next Clair Obscur-sized surprise?