Former Witcher Developer Joins Dying Light, Dead Island Studio

Damien Monnier, formerly of CD Projekt Red, didn't have to leave Poland to land another job in game development. Monnier is joining Techland as a lead designer after leaving CD Projekt Red in November. He served as senior gameplay designer for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the well-loved RPG from 2015, and was acting as lead designer for the collectible card game, Gwent.

Techland is known for the Call of Juarez first-person shooter series as well as its zombie-centric titles Dying Light and Dead Island. However, its upcoming projects may be more in Monnier's wheelhouse. In May, Techland confirmed that it was working on two more games, one of which is an "open-world fantasy game with RPG elements." The other was implied to be Dying Light 2, but nothing was confirmed.

CD Projekt Red told Eurogamer that Monnier left on good terms, and Monnier publicly thanked CD Projekt Red after his departure.

[Source: Eurogamer]

Our Take
Monnier's involvement with The Witcher 3 probably looked great to Techland. I'm willing to bet that they wants his expertise on their new game since it may have some structural similarities to the Witcher series. Given the quality of The Witcher 3, recruiting Monnier was a smart move.