Cyberpunk 2077 game director and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt co-game director Mateusz Kanik has partnered with other former CD Projekt Red developers to create Blank Game Studios, and they have announced an untitled character-driven story as its first project. Kanik and former Cyberpunk 2077 and Witcher executive producers Jędrzej Mróz and Marcin Jefimow likewise announced their new studio today. Blank describes its debut project as a “character-driven game set in an apocalypse, with a twist or two” but declined to share more outside of delightfully bleak-looking concept art, which you can see for yourself below.
“We’ve had our share of creating huge, super complicated games with open worlds,” the developers shared on the new Blank website. “That’s why we focus on simpler goals – uniqueness, emotions, quality, and refinement. We put all our passion and dedication into our craft, and we’re eagerly looking forward to letting you play the compelling narrative we are working on.”
Kanik will take on the role of game director on the unnamed project, with Mróz and Jefimow serving as executive producers. The managing director is Rookiez from Warsaw co-founder Mikołaj Marchewka. Also joining from the CD Projekt Red team are Michal Dobrowolski as design director and Artur Ganszyniec as narrative director. Finally, Artificer alum Grzegorz Przybyś is the art director. Blank currently houses 10 developers but is hiring with hopes to expand to a team of 60.
“We’re thrilled to announce Blank. and to start expanding our incredible team,” Kanik said in a statement. “After working for years in an increasingly conservative industry, we’re ready to make bold, impactful projects that share our unique creativity and values.”
He continued: “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.”
Blank Game Studios is only just getting started, so keep checking in for any updates on its character-driven, apocalyptic story.
