“It’s All About You” — Shining a Spotlight on CD PROJEKT RED’s Community

In 2021, we aimed to take this a step further to make sure that in a vast space of the internet we don’t miss players, who wanted to share their creative passion with us. In addition to simply sharing fan creations on social media, we wanted to do something more special for them. Thus our community team has come up with “It’s All About You”, a video anthology dedicated entirely to showcasing the creativity of our players, to which any person could contribute at any time. “It’s All About You” is a fitting title that not only highlights the focus on our community but also reminds us that without our players, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

Something begins

What started as a simple idea — to build a website where players could upload their creations to be featured in short videos — quickly evolved into a project that required the collaboration of several departments. From building the website to handling legal details, creating video overlays, endslates, and copy, every element had to be carefully crafted to bring this vision to life. Further down the road, it took effort to organize and sort all the submissions and create a cohesive video out of them. While we intentionally avoided setting limitations on skill level, theme, aesthetic, or content type (with the exception of written text, which is difficult to showcase in video form), the entries still needed to be grouped thematically — whether by mood, central character, melody, or concept. This approach not only made it easier for creators to look for their works in the videos but also allowed viewers to immerse themselves in the holistic atmosphere of each collection.

After the launch of the site, we were amazed by the overwhelming response from our community. On the very first day, we received hundreds of submissions. Once we had carefully curated the selection for the first round, we proudly released our debut episode, dedicated to our Cyberpunk 2077 community.

Chroming Up

Once the project was fully underway and we had released 12 episodes, which we grouped into one ‘season’, we decided to take audience engagement even further. Our goal was not only to encourage existing creators to keep submitting their work but also to inspire new players to explore their creativity within our games. That’s why it was crucial for us to continually evolve the ways to enhance visibility for our community creators.

While preserving the core elements of the project, in 2023 we redesigned both the website and the videos to better align with the unique identity of each brand, allowing Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher players to instantly see what awaits them. We undertook a complete redesign of the overlays, thumbnails, and more, to further immerse players into the atmosphere of the universes.

Additionally, the entire video creation process was transitioned to our in-house Motion Design team. This required significant time and effort, not only to produce the videos but also to localize them into 11 working languages across various platforms, ensuring we reach as many players as possible.

Come on in, choom!

But it didn't stop with the design. To truly make this project about our community, we decided to involve players in the creation of each episode by running special polls on our website to let players choose what they want to see. Should the upcoming episode focus on Johnny Silverhand or David Martinez? Do you want to savor the melancholy of unrequited love or the joy of partying with your friends? What melody will guide you into world exploration as the main leitmotif? These are the kinds of questions we regularly pose to our community so they can shape each episode.

Right away, the community responded with enthusiasm, debating and deliberating over which option should prevail, negotiating among themselves and rallying support to champion their favorites. A small feature turned out to be yet another activity for community bonding, while content creators knew exactly what to aim for and how to increase their chances of being featured by submitting work aligned with the chosen themes.

As a result, we’ve seen a significant rise in both community interest and submissions. To date, since the revamp we've received more than 33% of all submissions, marking a 2.63-fold increase compared to last year. 

In fact, we've now reached a point where we receive so much content that organizing and sorting submissions to create cohesive videos has become rather challenging! There's simply too many excellent works to fit into a 2–3 minute episode. This led to the project expanding in size and formats. We added a gallery to the website to give extra visibility to community members whose work might not fit a current collection's theme but is still worthy of recognition.

In addition, we introduced a new social media incentive called “It’s All About You Highlights” where each month we additionally showcase three pieces — cosplay, illustration, and virtual photography — all tied together by a common theme. This not only allows us to share more of our players' creations but also ensures that our global community is aware of the project and the opportunities for exposure.

It's All About You Highlights of September 2024

authors: kasaneww, Normanday, Marco

Roaming The Continent

But it's not just about the global community. The highlights also allow us to adapt the project to the needs of local communities in various countries, with the help of our international Community Managers.

We were surprised to discover that, despite the abundance of talent worldwide, creators in some countries are hesitant to share their work directly with developers, often due to concerns that their creations won’t be seen or appreciated. We intend to change that by building an even more welcoming atmosphere and learning more from the regional online culture, to make sure the creators know it’s always safe to reach out to us with their creations.

Currently, we have submissions from 90 countries worldwide, and we hope that by further collaborating with our international Community Managers we can bring out more intricate works from every corner of the globe.

The Trail

Is this really the peak of the project? We believe that improvement never truly ends. Our goal in this project is to give back to our community for their trust and passion, and we'll surely find new ways to celebrate them. We’re constantly exploring opportunities to expand the project to feature even more types of creations — ranging from reactions and playthroughs to comedy and beyond.

"It's All About You" is driven by a desire to give back to the community that has supported us so wholeheartedly, and for many of us it became a comfort project on which we're always eager to spend our time and efforts. From fan art and cosplay to music covers and virtual photography, this is a testament to the powerful connection between our game and their players, something we do not take for granted.

With submissions from over 90 countries, thousands of contributions, and hundreds of thousands of views, this project continues to grow. And as we evolve alongside our community, we hope our creative players will continue to walk this path with us, sharing their talent and passion along the way.

P.S. The 'It’s All About You' videos play on the TV screens in our headquarters, ensuring that everyone on the team gets to see and appreciate them!