What Is the CD Projekt Red Interview Process Like? (Round by Round)

CD Projekt Red publishes its hiring as four steps. The studio names the steps "Let's see!", "Let's talk!", "Let's check!", and "Let's go!". In plain terms, it reads your CV, interviews you about your experience and motivation, sets a test assignment when the role needs one, then tells you the result.

Programming candidates report more steps than the four names suggest. Reported stages include a recruiter call, a C++ coding challenge, a technical interview with senior programmers, an insight interview, and meetings with the team and producers.

The studio states that feedback takes about two weeks on average after an interview, while aggregated candidate reports show an average near 39 days from application to hire. Programming roles often take longer.

Quick Overview

Stage 1: CV Review ("Let's see!")

The studio says it views and analyzes every resume it receives. Recruiters then contact promising candidates by email or phone. One candidate reported about four weeks of review before the first reply, so a slow start is normal. Use the exact words of the job ad in your resume, because a person is reading it for one specific skill set.

Stage 2: The First Interview ("Let's talk!")

This interview happens online, with a recruiter and often the hiring manager. The studio says it asks about your experience, your motivations, and what drives you professionally. You also get time to ask your own questions about the role and the studio. Expect behavioral questions about real situations rather than opinions about theory. The studio's recruitment director has said that skills can be taught, but values are hard to teach. Prepare the motivation answer in advance with how to answer why you want to work at CD Projekt Red.

Stage 3: The Test Assignment ("Let's check!")

Some roles include an assignment or a test, because the studio wants to see specific skills used in action. Reported deadlines differ by role: five days, one week, and two weeks all appear. One programming candidate reported five C++ tasks at easy to medium difficulty. A quest designer reported a game demo task with two weeks to finish it. One candidate also reported a clause limiting use of the submitted work to hiring. Write modern C++, keep the structure clear, add tests where they help, and submit something that runs.

Stage 4: The Technical Interview

Candidates report a call with senior technical staff around the coding challenge. One report describes a remote interview with two lead programmers and the recruiter present. The reported content is C++, programming fundamentals, and a live coding exercise.

Reported questions include move semantics and which modern C++ features you use. Move semantics is the C++ feature that transfers ownership of data instead of copying it. One gameplay candidate reported a question about the network communication of a gameplay event. The architecture subjects are listed in what to expect in the CD Projekt Red system design interview.

Stage 5: The Insight Interview and Team Meetings

Candidates name an insight interview after the test task. Reports do not describe its content in detail, so treat it as a longer conversation about how you work with other people. Some candidates then meet the team and the producers before an offer. A producer plans the schedule and coordinates work across a game team. The order varies: some reports place the test task before the technical call, and others after it.

Timeline and Decision

Reported end-to-end times vary widely: one candidate reported about six weeks in total, with a five day test task in the middle.

Another reported about two months, including more than two weeks of waiting for the test task result. One gameplay programmer reported about six months. Gameplay programmer applicants rate the difficulty at 2.7 out of 5, where 5 is hardest. The studio then tells you the result by phone or email. Full waiting times and follow-up advice are in how long it takes to hear back after a CD Projekt Red interview.

Questions to Ask Them

Every interview includes time for your questions, and one of the studio's art directors has said that the worst case is a candidate with no questions. Ask which project and which team the role joins, how the move to Unreal Engine 5 changed the daily work of programmers, and how the studio plans schedules and manages overtime near a milestone. A milestone is a fixed date when one part of the game must be ready. These questions prove research, and they also tell you whether the team suits you.

How to Prepare

• Drill C++ and the fundamentals. The technical call covers language details and live coding, so practice both. Grokking the Coding Interview builds the problem solving half.
• Treat the test task as a main round. The people who would work with you read that code, so clear structure counts for more than a clever trick.
• Play the games you would work on. Interviewers ask about the studio's games, and they can tell detailed knowledge from general praise.
• Prepare three true stories. The interviews ask about actual situations on large teams, including feedback that was hard to accept.
• Practice design talk too. Grokking the System Design Interview teaches how to state requirements and trade-offs out loud, which helps in any architecture discussion.