Building the Best Technology and Teams

As Engineering Director on The Witcher 4, Arkadiusz Antonik helps shape the technology behind our new saga. But his story began thirteen years ago, when he joined CD PROJEKT RED as an intern with a passion for The Witcher.

What does it mean to be Engineering Director of The Witcher 4?

I direct the technology of the game — in the beginning, that meant adopting Unreal Engine 5 into CD PROJEKT RED, building the Engineering team, and creating the vision and strategy to lead it. The goal is to make sure we have the best possible technology behind The Witcher 4. Right now, I am continuing these aspects with my team, working to make sure they’re all engaged and know what to do by preparing roadmaps, planning the high-level work, monitoring the state of the technology, looking for risks, and mitigating them. I also talk with other disciplines and partners to understand what they need from the tech side.

How did you get started here?

I loved the first two Witcher games and watched every dev diary video that CD PROJEKT RED put out. Back at the Łódź University of Technology, I founded a student research group centered around video games, and many of these people have since found their places in different game companies around the world, including with me at RED. But I also took part in the Team Computer Game Development competition, also known as ZTGK, and in one edition received an honorable award for the tech behind my team’s project. Someone from CD PROJEKT RED was on the jury, so that’s where our paths crossed. Later, I needed to complete an internship as part of my studies, and managed to get one at RED!

Was your internship at CD PROJEKT RED successful?

Walking in I knew the internship had an end date but I really wanted to leave a good impression and not burn any bridges, hoping one day I could come back and stay longer. At the time it was just about doing what needs to be done, not thinking about the importance of what you’re creating. But one particular tool I worked on might have helped my chances. It let us report bugs from the game by automatically adding screenshots, recording videos, and sending them to our bug database. I believe a programmer’s role is to make others’ jobs easier and I’m just glad I was able to do that. A month after the internship ended, CD PROJEKT RED reached out to offer me a part-time job. Everybody welcomed me with open arms, but I’m forever grateful to Przemek Czatrowski for how he introduced me to the team and showed me the ropes. It’s amazing to think all these years later we’re still here, now both of us as Directors on The Witcher 4.

Why do you believe a programmer’s role is to make others’ jobs easier?

Engineering is a role behind the scenes. Programmers do so much that people can’t see at first glance. The majority of people notice the beautiful graphics or gameplay elements, but they usually don’t think about how it all works under the hood, especially with aspects like streaming, loading assets, or serialization. But this is crucial! Regardless, I love to be behind the scenes. Throughout my career I may have moved closer and closer to gameplay and now I’m in a managerial role, but deep down in my heart, I’m still an engineer. I still make decisions through the lens of optimization — how will something affect the performance, the efficiency, the memory cost? This will stay with me forever.

What does being an effective leader mean to you?

This role for me is about two things. First, enabling others, providing them with everything they need to win. I’m the person who helps with the direction and then removes all blockers so they can create the beautiful things they do. And secondly, which is what really fascinates me, is that now I have this wider perspective and impact; I have the possibility to drive change. It’s captivating having a global perspective and figuring out who is currently working on what and for how long, and how that needs to tie in with something else — with dozens of other things. I love solving puzzles like these. And I hate calling them problems! These are challenges which we figure out as a team; we find solutions.

What is the working environment like at CD PROJEKT RED overall?

We do ambitious things, and it’s always about doing them better and bigger than last time. Each new start is a challenge — and I love it. When I joined my team was small, but now we have over 150 engineers for just one project. We used to share one building with other companies, and now we have people all around the world. Before, you could meet every person in the company by just going to the kitchen. Now it’s almost impossible — but that comes with growth and ambition. The things we can hope to achieve now are limitless, because we can balance on the edge between creative chaos and a structured procedure. I love working with creative people who share the same passion for our games and who are inspired by our common goals, who eat, sleep, and breathe video games.

Do you have any favorite memories of your time so far?

However it may sound, I have really fond memories of the closing process of Cyberpunk 2077. The closing process of a game is really satisfying, and I missed it for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt after taking some time out. Around that time I decided to settle down to start a family, and since The Witcher 3 would require full focus, I decided to say goodbye to the team. They were really great about it. Everyone supported me, and a delegation from the company even attended my wedding. Of course, I eventually returned and worked on Cyberpunk 2077. For years you go through so many stages making a game and then one day all your work is finally locked on a disc which goes out to players. You’re finally sharing your work with the world! Another highlight has to be when I was offered the position of Engineering Director on The Witcher 4. It was an incredibly proud and happy milestone for me.

How do you like to spend your time outside of work?

Mostly with my family. Together with my wife and our children we love to stay active and travel the world. I’m also a big fan of calisthenics, which a friend from RED got me into. I also read a lot of fantasy books and sometimes still code at home. Mostly now it’s small games for my kids which makes them happy, and I also teach them coding while they sit with me and dabble in Unreal.