Former CD Projekt Red Developers have teased a new project in development with the announcement of their new game studio: Blank. Mateusz Kanik, game director of Cyberpunk 2077 and co-game director of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, co-founds new game studio with The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 executive producers, Jędrzej Mróz and Marcin Jefimow. Kanik will be assuming the role of game director while Mróz and Jefimow will be executive producers. The rest of the team consists of Mikołaj Marchewka (Rookiez from Warsaw S.A) joining as managing director, and developers include Michal Dobrowolski (CD Projekt Red) joins as Design Director, Artur Ganszyniec (CD Projekt Red, 11 Bit Studios) as Narrative Director, with Grzegorz Przybyś (Division 48 Studio, Artificer) as Art Director. The team is committing to developing games that provide unique experiences for players, favoring novel territory over returning to familiar territory that includes clones or predictable entries.
By the nature of their new project being unannounced there isn’t much information to report on it, save for that it is a character driven game set in the apocalypse, with “a twist or two.” All we have to go by to speculate is a single image but based it is enough to generate some intrigue. Below the teaser image are some quote from the founders about the creation of studio Blank.
“We’re thrilled to announce Blank. and to start expanding our incredible team,” said Mateusz Kanik, Blank. Co-founder and Game Director. “After working for years in an increasingly conservative industry, we’re ready to make bold, impactful projects that share our unique creativity and values. Where the industry champions a dictatorship of the creative individual, we want to give ownership to the team. Where the industry leans on crunch culture, we prefer work-life balance. Where the industry says bigger is better, we’re setting our sights on highly polished games with a focus on emotion, story, and craftsmanship,” said Kanik.
Marcin Jefimow, Blank. Co-Founder and Executive Producer, said “Our game development philosophy comes from our own stories and experiences. With Blank. we want to build a space where we can honor our histories, but also be playful and open to brand new inspirations as we collaborate creatively. We’ve already got a head start on a budding new project that we can’t wait to share with players and craft with new team members.”
Jędrzej Mróz, Blank. Co-Founder and Executive Producer shared how the team plans to approach game development and scaling up the studio, “Over our many years of making games, we’ve seen the importance of marrying inspiring ideas with well-defined scope, that’s supported by a strong team and realistic budget. We’re committed to quality craftsmanship and running the studio in a sustainable way; we plan to increase our projects' scope as we expand the team and its capabilities.”
