CD PROJEKT RED & Keanu Reeves - The Bird & The Breeze!

Описание: In today’s video I wanted to highlight CD PROJEKT RED and Keanu Reeves and compare and contrast as to why they are a match made in heaven, who have both gotten to where they are by being authentic, down to earth, hard-working , devoted to the audience and consumer, and how Cyberpunk 2077 will be better because of it.

Let’s start off with the Incredible accomplishments + humble beginnings of Keanu Reeves and CD PROJEKT RED individually.
Keanu had a fairly rough childhood where his father left his family at the young age of 3, as well experiencing the loss of a childhood friend to a drug overdose just to name a few. Keanu had always loved Drama class and he eventually dropped out of high school to pursue his acting career, where he found his niche in action movies and had his big breakthrough in The Matrix as Neo and later as John Wick. These roles have reached such legendary status that the mere thought of Keanu and 90% of us instantly attribute him to one of these epic roles. The Matrix was my favorite action adventure movie through my childhood and so I know whenever I see him, despite the beard and long hair I still see Neo. As for people who have taken a loving to John Wick they see him as the unstoppable assassin avenging his wife and dog. This is the status that all Hollywood actors desire, to play a part so well it becomes deeply engrained in the minds of the audience long after the credits roll.

On the flipside, let’s take a look at CDPR. CD PROJEKT RED funnily enough started in an environment of the slim pickings of socialism in Warsaw. Marcin Iwinski and Michal Kicinski founded CD PROJEKT in May 1994 and were initially acting as a distributor of foreign video games for the domestic market. It wasn’t until 2002 that CD PROJEKT RED was formed where they started developing their Witcher games. By luck or fate they created the Witcher series based on reused code from a PC version of Baldur’s Gate: Dark alliance. Fast forward to 2015 and beyond and CD PROJEKT RED’s name is synonymous with attention to detail and the ability to blend narrative driven story telling with a sprawling RPG world.

Next Let’s dive into how Reeves and CDPR operate off the set and out of the Studio. On numerous occasions Keanu Reeves has taken paycuts for movies he has filmed in the past to allow for there to be a budget to hire actors who would fit that particular movie. Reeves took a 2 million paycut in The Devil’s advocate so that the studio behind it was able to hire Al Pacino as the lead. For a movie called The Replacements he took a whopping 90% pay cut so that Gene Hackman was able to be signed for the film. On the set of The Matrix, he gave a struggling set builder a 20k bonus to help make ends meet. He also bought employees who he thought were most deserving Harleys during the shooting of the second Matrix movie. Keanu also runs a private foundation that funnels money into a couple childrens hospitals and for cancer research.

Contrast this to how CDPR treats it’s community and nurtures it’s environment. CD PROJEKT RED has been steadfast in delivering incredibly high quality games to the consumer, DRM free. This is in essence means you could theoretically pirate the game and play it for free if you wanted to, and that there are no checks like internet connections or the need for discs to be present for you to enjoy their content. CD PROJEKT RED is also firm on not having predatory micro-transactions which is akin to gambling for kids and pillage the consumer for the benefit of the bottom line of profit. They treat their fans with respect. When it comes to treating staff, while there has been some sort of backlash on this subject, they have mentioned numerous times that employees leaving are a part of the process, and that game development is an industry not for everyone. Their future mission statements are even deeply steeped in the progression for their staff to be happy, healthy and creative.


Finally let’s talk about future expectations and growth mentality of Keanu and CD PROJEKT RED. Now obviously both of these entities have come together for a reason. CD PROJEKT RED has also stated that if it wasn’t Keanu, it wasn’t going to be anyone for his character in Cyberpunk 2077 Johnny silverhand. Not only is this due to the reasons that are apparent on the surface, acting chops, fitting the role, or bringing together people who focus on telling a raw story, it’s mainly because both Keanu and CD PROJEKT RED have “made it out” despite trials and tribulations, but It never changed their resolve. They both continue to go out, to forge, to create and to entertain. These are the types of companies and people that become a success but don’t uproot everything and everyone around them to do so.

I can’t think of a more dynamic duo in the gaming industry at the moment, if not for their raw talent, but for their support of their communities.