CD Projekt RED veterans start new studio Blank to develop character-driven post-apocalyptic game

Mateusz Kanik, along with several former CD Projekt RED developers, has formed a new game development studio called Blank. The team is aiming for work-life balance over crunch while working on a post-apocalyptic narrative title based on a new IP.

A concept art for Blank’s debut game

Based in Warsaw, Poland, Blank says its main goal is to “create something fresh and bold, steering clear of mere replicas of existing games.” The studio also wants to use its experience to deliver polished and refined projects.

Here is the Blank founding team:

• Game director Mateusz Kanik — former design director at CD Projekt RED, who spent 15 years at the company and was the co-game director of The Witcher 3 and game director of Cyberpunk 2077 (between 2012 and 2016);
• Executive producer Jędrzej Mróz — former production director at CD Projekt RED, who worked for the company for than 14 years in positions ranging from QA specialist to lead producer on Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3;
• Executive producer Marcin Jefimow — former executive producer at CD Projekt RED, who also worked at 11 bit studios earlier in his career;
• Managing director Mikolaj Marchewka — co-founder of Polish studio Rookiez from Warsaw.

Other team members include narrative director Artur Ganszyniec (formerly CDPR, 11 bit studios), design director Michał Dobrowolski (formerly CDPR), and art director Grzegorz Przybyś (Division48 Studio).

Right now, Blank is also looking for a technical director, environment artist, and 3D animator.

“Where the industry champions a dictatorship of the creative individual, we want to give ownership to the team,” Kanik said (via Forbes). “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.”

There are no details about Blank’s debut project, other than that it will be a character-driven, narrative game set in a post-apocalyptic world. It will also be a brand new IP. Instead of a huge open world, the studio wants to focus on uniqueness, quality, and emotions.