CD Projekt SA

CD Projekt SA is a publisher.

CD Projekt SA Webpage, Facebook

The largest Polish company in the video game industry and one of the biggest companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. CD Projekt S.A. began its operations as a distributor of video games in Poland, but over time transformed into an industry giant, focusing primarily on productions developed by its subsidiary studio, CD Projekt RED, as well as the operation of the GOG.com platform.

• History of CD Projekt SA
• CD Projekt as a Polish game publisher
• CD Projekt as a game publisher
• gram.pl
• cdp.pl
• GOG.com

History of CD Projekt SA

Beginning of business

The history of CD Projekt dates back to the early 1990s, when its two future founders, Marcin Iwinski and Michal Kicinski, first met in high school. At a time when the legal video game market in Poland was virtually non-existent, they began importing some original game copies from abroad and selling them at the computer exchange in Warsaw. In 1994, the two entrepreneurs decided to establish their own company, CD Projekt, which initially focused on supplying the Polish market with original video games imported from the United States. Soon after, the company signed its first agreement for the authorized distribution of titles from American Laser Games.

In 1996, just two years after its founding, CD Projekt became the first company in Poland to publish games in Polish packaging, complete with localized manuals. However, a major milestone came in 1999, when the company completed its first full Polish localization - Baldur's Gate, featuring famous local actors such as Piotr Fronczewski and Wiktor Zborowski. The decision to fully localize the game proved to be a breakthrough, with sales in Poland surpassing 100,000 copies.

The launch of CD Projekt RED and CD Projekt SA

In 2002, Iwinski and Kicinski realized another ambition of theirs by founding their own development studio, CD Projekt RED, separate from CD Projekt, which would become best known for the bestselling action RPG series The Witcher. In the following years, the company launched the gram.pl website, complete with its own player loyalty program, as well as the Good Old Games digital distribution platform (now GOG.com), both operating as independent entities separate from CD Projekt.

In 2008, the organizational structure of the group was reorganized, with CDP Investment established as the parent holding company overseeing the entire CD Projekt group. In December 2010, the holding was formally merged with Optimus S.A., one of Poland's oldest and largest computer hardware manufacturers, which also occasionally produces and publishes games and multimedia encyclopedias. The new company initially operated under the name Optimus S.A., which was later changed to CD Projekt RED S.A. In November 2012, the general meeting of shareholders decided to rename the entire group CD PROJEKT S.A., restoring the historic association with CD Projekt.

In the meantime, the group’s distribution division underwent a major reorganization. In 2012, CD Projekt sp. z o.o. changed its name to CDP.PL, retaining the publishing portfolio and responsibilities of its predecessor. In November 2014, CD PROJEKT S.A. sold a controlling stake in its domestic distribution company. As a result of the transaction, CDP.PL was spun off from the group and has operated as an independent company ever since.

Game development and GOG.com as the core pillars of CD Projekt

Since then, the successes of the CD PROJEKT S.A. group have been driven by the work of CD Projekt RED and the GOG.com digital distribution platform. In 2015, the company celebrated a major milestone with the release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and in 2018 its stock market valuation surged following the unveiling of a new trailer for Cyberpunk 2077. CD PROJEKT S.A.'s success on the Warsaw Stock Exchange peaked on April 2, 2020, when the group became the largest listed company, surpassing notable firms such as PZU, PKN Orlen, and PKO BP.In December 2020, shortly before the first reviews of Cyberpunk 2077 were published, CD Projekt’s share price on the Warsaw Stock Exchange began to decline. The downward trend was not halted by the game’s initial commercial success - over eight million pre-orders, more than $50 million in Steam revenue in the first two weeks, and early reports that the project had already recouped its costs - nor by the initial player reviews, which largely criticized the poor quality of the console versions.

Firefighting and growth

CD Project quickly issued an apology to players, while CD Projekt RED immediately began working on updates. Additionally, it was announced that any dissatisfied buyer could refund the game, leading to the temporary suspension of its digital sales on the PlayStation Store. Despite numerous controversies, Cyberpunk 2077 achieved strong sales. On December 22, CD Projekt announced that gamers had purchased over 13 million copies (after accounting for refunds), an impressive milestone. However, the sudden and steep drop in CD Projekt’s share price prompted American investors to file the first class-action lawsuit on December 27. They sought to determine whether CD Projekt had misled investors, resulting in their financial losses.

While 2021 was mostly spent fixing Cyberpunk 2077, the studio’s parent company still managed to achieve significant growth. Two additional teams - this time from abroad - joined the Spokko studio, which CD Projekt had acquired in 2018. These were Digital Scapes, set to operate as CD Projekt RED Vancouver starting in July, and The Molasses Flood, which joined CD Projekt in October. Moreover, in July, Spokko, in collaboration with CD Projekt RED, released the mobile game The Witcher: Monster Slayer, which turned out to be a major success.

At the end of November 2021, the company released its financial results for Q3, which fell far short of analysts’ expectations. It turned out that the poor results were due not only to the costly fixes for Cyberpunk 2077, but also to the performance of GOG.com. Despite bringing in almost 11 million USD in revenue, the platform still caused a loss of about 1.2 million. To address the issue, the service aimed to return to its roots, concentrating on its core activities - that is, offering access to a carefully curated selection of DRM-free games," according to Piotr Nielubowicz, the company’s vice president of finance. Additionally, the team was scheduled to undergo structural changes.

Regarding the lawsuits filed against CD Projekt by investors, four separate cases were consolidated into a single major class-action lawsuit in May 2021. In December 2021, the case was resolved through a settlement, under which CD Projekt agreed to pay the plaintiffs $1.85 million in exchange for their waiver of all claims against the company.

The efforts of CD Projekt and CD Projekt RED paid off, as over the following months the company gradually began recouping its losses. As a result, by January 2023, CD Projekt’s market valuation once again surpassed that of the French publisher Ubisoft.

In April 2023, CD Project released its 2022 annual report, revealing that the group employed 1,292 people worldwide, with the majority of its revenue (71%) generated in North America. Interestingly, Poland accounted for 3% of CD Project’s revenue. While this figure might seem modest, compare it to the entire Asian market, which contributed only 7% of the company’s revenue.

Changes at the top

In October 2023, it was announced that Adam Kicinski, who had served as CEO or co-CEO of CD Project since 2010, planned to step down from his position. In 2025, he planned to stand for election as a member of CD Project’s supervisory board. Starting January 1, 2024, Adam Badowski and Michal Nowakowski assumed the roles of Joint CEOs of CD Project.

We needed to wait until October 2024 for these announcements to be implemented. At that time, Adam Kicinski left the management board of CD Projekt, having served on the board since December 31st, while planning to run for a position on the company’s supervisory board in 2025. At the same time, the following individuals left the supervisory board: Katarzyna Szwarc (former chairwoman), Michal Bien (chairman and member of the audit committee), Maciej Nielubowicz (secretary and member of the audit committee), and Lukasz Wejcher (member of the audit committee). Of the previous members of the group’s supervisory board, only Marcin Iwinski remained in his position.

In December 2024, for the 16th anniversary of the GOG.com platform, CD Project announced the launch of the GOG Preservation Program initiative. As part of this initiative, older titles were to receive ongoing technical support and be continuously updated to remain compatible with new systems and hardware components.

CD Projekt as a Polish game publisher

From the very beginning of its operations (as CD Projekt sp. z o. o.), the company concentrated primarily on distributing the most significant computer and console games from the world's leading publishers within Poland. Beginning from the mid-1990s,, CD Projekt’s main commercial partners included major gaming industry giants such as Acclaim, Atari/Infogrames, Blizzard, Interplay, JoWooD, Konami, Microsoft, Psygnosis, SEGA, Sierra, THQ, and Ubisoft. Almost from the very beginning, the company also localized the vast majority of the games it published. In addition to the premiere editions of games, the company's publishing portfolio has also included numerous publishing series over the years, the most important of which are:

1. eXtra Klasyka (also released as eXtra Klasyka neXt and Nowa eXtra Klasyka) offered affordable re-releases of the most popular computer games and complete series - so-called sagas or anthologies. For a time, the editions were grouped into three categories: eXtra Klasyka Hit, eXtra Klasyka Dodatek, and eXtra Klasyka Gold.
2. Platynowa Kolekcja – budget-friendly re-releases of popular computer games, often enhanced with extra content like printed guides or soundtracks, and also featuring complete game series, or so-called sagas and anthologies.
3. Zlota Kolekcja – special editions that bundle some of the most popular computer games along with their official add-ons.
4. TopSeller – a mid-range series positioned between eXtra Klasyka and the Platynowa Kolekcja, originally featuring a double-sided cover showcasing both the series’ graphic design and the original release version.
5. Fajna Cena – a budget-friendly series offering games in their original release form, marked only by a simple, easy-to-remove sticker.
6. Gamebook – a budget-friendly series re-releasing the most popular computer games or collections of several titles, presented in a so-called "gamebook" form (book+game).
7. eXtra Gra – a multi-page magazine for gamers that includes a full version of a computer game.
8. $upercena – classic games offered at the lowest prices, organized into three thematic categories: Klasyczna Gra, Rodzinna Rozgrywka oraz Zabawa i Relaks.
9. Grywalnosc Ponad Wszystko – a series showcasing the best indie games at attractive prices.
10. Swiat Symulatorow – a series featuring newly released computer games from the popular, budget-friendly simulator genre.
11. Dookola Filmu – a series of computer games based on popular movies and animated films.
12. Kolekcja Disneya – a series of games from Disney Interactive, organized into three categories: Disney Classics, Disney Education, and Disney Magical Collection.

CD Projekt as a game publisher

In addition to its extensive role as a Polish distributor of foreign games, CDP also was responsible for the worldly releases of several titles. Their portfolio in this area is relatively modest, mainly comprising titles published by CDP or affiliated companies (e.g., Optimus Nexus), family and educational games developed by Polish studios for the domestic market, as well as niche productions released exclusively in Poland, such as Mount & Blade: By Fire and Sword or Farming Simulator 2013: Ursus.

gram.pl

Launched in the Fall of 2005, this is an online portal dedicated entirely to video games. In its early years, the portal served as a hub for digital distribution and technical support for games published by CD Projekt sp. z o.o. It also launched Poland’s first player loyalty program, where registering games distributed by the company earned points that could be exchanged for discounts and prizes. On February 1, 2008, after more than two years of collaboration with CD Projekt, gram.pl officially became an independent company.

cdp.pl

Launched in October 2012 by CDP.PL, this e-commerce platform marked a new area of commercial activity for the CD Projekt capital group. Initially, the platform focused primarily on selling digital video games, e-books, and e-comics, but in 2013 its offerings were expanded to include products on physical media, consumer electronics, and traditional books. As interest in e-commerce grew, the platform expanded its offerings to include board games and gaming-related merchandise, primarily tied to video games.

In November 2014, the cdp.pl store, along with its parent company CDP.PL, was spun off from the CD Projekt group through a management buyout.

GOG.com

Launched in 2008 by CDP Investment sp. z o. o., this English-language digital game distribution service now operates under the CD PROJEKT SA group. Originally named Good Old Games, it focused primarily on selling classic computer games from the 1980s and 90s adapted to the requirements of modern operating systems. As newer games steadily joined the platform, the website was rebranded GOG.com just four years after its launch.

Today, the service ranks among the world’s largest digital distribution platforms, offering not only classic titles but also major global premieres - and, since 2014, games for Mac and movies. The platform also features its own client, GOG Galaxy, which allows users to manage and launch the games they’ve purchased. A hallmark of titles distributed via GOG.com is their lack of cumbersome DRM protection and the inclusion of plenty of bonus materials, such as wallpapers, manuals, and original soundtracks.

GOG Preservation Program

In November 2024, the GOG Preservation Program was launched, aiming to ensure that games don’t get abandoned by their developers or publishers. Thanks to this initiative, the platform committed to providing technical support and updates for the games it covers, mainly focusing on adapting them to new systems.

Games included in the GOG Preservation Program are marked as "Good Old Games" on the platform. In its first phase, the GOG Preservation Program covered over 100 titles, with plans to expand the list over time.