Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher creator CD Projekt has acquired indie studio The Molasses Flood, which will now work on a new game based on one of CD Projekt’s IPs.
Announced to investors today, CD Projekt announced that it had bought 60% of the Boston studio initially, and organised transactions to takeover the remaining 40% over time. The Molasses Flood will collaborate with CD Projekt’s development unit, CD Projekt Red, but will retain “full autonomy”.
The Molasses Flood’s new logo. (Source: CD Projekt)
The announcement mentioned that The Molasses Flood “will work on its own project based on one of CD Projekt’s IPs.” That’s likely a game set within the Witcher or Cyberpunk universes.
CD Projekt has previously said that it will developer AAA Witcher and Cyberpunk games simultaneously, starting from 2022. It’s not clear what property Molasses Flood will work with, nor if this is an additional project on top of those planned developments – CD Projekt says it will announce more in the future.
Molasses Flood subsequently confirmed the news on Twitter, saying, “We get to build a completely new game in the universe of an existing CD Projekt IP, we get to hire a lot more folks, ad we get to keep making games based on the same principles that have always guided us: making games with heart built on rich gameplay systems.”
Exciting news for us today! We’ve joined the CD PROJEKT family, and are working on a project within one of their existing universes 😍🤯 pic.twitter.com/8jhWylIfKh
— The Molasses Flood is hiring! (@molassesflood) October 22, 2021
The studio’s announcement also confirmed that it would retain its name, but would add “a CD Projekt Studio” in most communication.
In a separate press release, joint CD Projekt CEO Adam Kiciński said, ““We’re always on the lookout for teams who make games with heart. The Molasses Flood share our passion for video game development, they’re experienced, quality-oriented, and have great technological insight. I’m convinced they will bring a lot of talent and determination to the Group.”
The Molasses Flood has previously created The Flame in the Flood and Drake’s Hollow, both of which focused on survival elements, albeit with very different approaches. Members of the Molasses Flood team had previously made BioShock, Halo 2, and Rock Band before creating the indie developer.
Before we get to any new games, CD Projekt is still working on next-gen upgrades for both Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – both of which were recently delayed to 2022. Major expansions are due to follow for Cyberpunk at a later date.
Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.