worldwide. Their strongest education sector is arguably IT, with multiple universities boasting excellent programs. Couple that with a lower cost of labor than other countries, and Poland's got a highly skilled, affordable workforce ripe for hire. “We’re an attractive outsourcing hub for many corporations in the West,” says Stanislaw Just, “We’ve got a competitive edge.”
After the fall of communism, Poland revamped its education system and today it consistently ranks amongst the best in the world—in the most recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development study, it’s 5th in Europe and 11th
Cheap, Skilled Labor
CD Projekt Red
The Iron Curtain
The
Government
The Polish Games Association
Cheap, Skilled Labor
implemented because of our effort, "says CD Projekt Red's Stanislaw Just. The members of the PGA might be employed by competing game developers, but their collective goal is to foster a Polish game community that can compete internationally.
Created by employees of CD Projekt Red and other big developers like Techland (Dead Island) and CI Games (Sniper: Ghost Warrior), the PGA is directly responsible for the Polish government’s enthusiastic funding of game development. “The R&D grant was solely
The Polish
Games Association
international video games, so Polish gamers got creative—radio stations would broadcast games as a series of blips and white noise that could be recorded, loaded, and played. That mix of ingenuity and punky disdain for copyright law fostered a commnity of innovators. “We started making games while we had tanks on our streets,” says Just, “And in 2015 we got the Golden Joystick Award for best game.”
“We had martial law implemented in ‘83, while you guys already had the Golden Joystick Awards,” says Stanislaw Just, R&D Manager at CD Projekt Red and board member of the Polish Games Administration. Soviet occupation meant there was no way to buy
The Iron Curtain
Poland’s Got Game
Poland’s Got Game
Once trapped behind an Iron Curtain, Poland is now a hotspot for video game studios. Local developer Stanislaw Just walks us through the five reasons why.
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A ban on trade meant there was no way to buy the hottest video games of the day, so the gamers of Poland got creative. Radio stations would broadcast games as a series of blips and white noise so that people could record them, and local “computer markets” would sell pirated copies of Western blockbusters. That mix of ingenuity and punky disdain for copyright infringement law fostered a gaming community that, when the Iron Curtain fell, was ready to create and consume. “We started making games while we had tanks on our streets,” says Just, “And in 2015 we got the Golden Joystick Award for best game.”
“We had martial law implemented in ‘83, while you guys already had the Golden Joystick Awards,” says Stanislaw Just, R&D Manager at game developer CD Projekt Red and board member of the Polish Games Administration.
The Iron Curtain
In 2016, the National Center for Research and Development doled out 116 million zloty (or $27.4 million) in grants, many of which went to game developers. "There is also the R&D tax relief, where the more cost you incur, the less tax you pay,” says Just. And a cultural tax break, which rewards developers for making games that honor Polish culture. These breaks allow developers to focus on creating without fretting about funds.
You’d be hard-pressed to find another country that supports video games development with as much gusto as Poland. In 2011, former prime minister Donald Tusk gifted former President Barack Obama a copy of The Witcher 2.
The Government
generated more revenue in three years than the other two games combined. And in 2016, when the Polish government doled out $27.4 million in grants, CD Projekt Red took home the biggest chunk—$7 million, which they reportedly used for the development of Cyberpunk 2077, “Most Wanted Game” winner at the 2018 Golden Joystick Awards.
“Without CD Projekt Red, we definitely wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Just tells us. The game studio is responsible for adapting Polish fantasy novels into the award-winning Witcher series, the last of which (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)
CD Projekt Red
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WORDS BY ALYSSA MERCANTE
DESIGN BY PETER CARLSON