There is a big difference between an author interviewing present employees of a company, quoting
their actual, personal thoughts and feelings
in full, based on their
first-hand experience working in that environment...
...and an author speculating on a single interpretation of a single detail, based solely on second-hand information and understanding, then trying to create drama by crafting rhetoric without a single valid example to back up his claims, simultaneously ignoring directly contradictory
fact, most of which came
right from the mouths of the actual developers during the
exact same interview that he cherry-picked his quotations from, which wholly invalidate his claims. No one at CDPR was forced to do anything they were not 100% willing to do and compensated in full for -- overtime included. The article in question is not an argument; it is completely irresponsible journalism. It disingenuously suppresses factual information in an attempt to intentionally and negligently misrepresent the announcement according to the author's personal agenda.
Frankly, that type of behavior can get you fired as a journalist. Any publisher worth their weight knows the difference between a.) quality, bias-free reporting and b.) grandstanding and mongering. (Unfortunately, not all publishers are worth their weight, especially where the lax-to-nonexistant standards of the internet are concerned.) The only factual thing he says is that CDPR is working overtime for a while to get Cyberpunk ready. Everything else is utterly slanted and biased drivel, substantiated by nothing but a subjective, second-hand interpretation of a single statement.
Readers need to watch the entire interview that is referenced in the article, not just the parts that were intentionally cut down to deliver half-truths. You can read the feedback from CDPR employees throughout this forum. You can listen to other interviews about the process and how dedicated and driven the entire team is, and how much they do not want to rush the development or deliver anything less than the best product they can produce.
You're simply mistaking what you want to hear and believe with the actual facts of what has been said by the people directly involved, and are superimposing those subjective, second-hand whims over what can be validly proven and supported.
1.) The plan to deliver the game and avoid overtime
didn't work.
2.) CDPR, as a team, opted to delay things to spend more time on them.
3.) To the best of my knowledge, everyone is onboard and pulling --
I've not heard a single complaint from anyone. (Do you know how much complaining happens when workers are being mistreated or people feel like they're being taken advantage of???)
4.) The team is now delaying again because it's not ready yet, and they have a company that's supportive enough not only to grant them that extra time -- but to recognize and compensate them for that effort.
Hence, what work is being done now is being done because this is what it looks like when people passionately dedicated to their Art and profession are focused on achieving something above-and-beyond. (Something, it is painfully obvious, many people have never experienced and seemingly don't believe actually happens. Forgive me for choosing a side directly here, but I want no part in any endeavor being run by such people. Hard work gets things done. Not whining every time I have to come in on a weekend or spend a lunch hour catching up on something important.)
A journalist half a world away with absolutely no direct contact with the company aside from a single comment, ignoring the words of the devs themselves to serve his own purposes, and then publicly criticizing something he's not even directly involved in "because he thinks so in his mind" does not outweigh the words from the employees of the company itself. Find me a present or past employee that worked on CP2077 that has something negative to say about "crunch", and I'll be willing to listen to them. Aside from that:
Believing something doesn't simply make it true.
Plans change. Happens all the time. Extra effort is needed here and there. Happens all the time. That's life. Anyone that has a problem with that has a permanently uphill trek to make through snow and ice. Better dress warmly and pack a lunch. Life will be really tough until they get a bit more used to the climate.
