Cyberpunk 2077 fans are divided over a surprising revelation: CD Projekt Red CEO and co-founder Marcin Iwinski has officially become a billionaire, well in advance of the hotly-anticipated launch of Cyberpunk 2077.
Three months ago, the /r/cyberpunkgame subreddit noted that CD Projekt Red was worth more than $7.2 billion (30.23 billion zł) and that Marcin Iwinski held 12,150,0000 shares (12.64%) of the company, valuing them at $913 million (3.73 billion zł).
Iwinski hasn’t gained any more shares since then, but his value has risen in the last three months as noted in a newer submission to the Cyberpunk 2077 subreddit. This means that his stock holdings in the company are now valued at $1.05 billion (4.40 billion zł), officially making him a billionaire and one of the richest people in Poland.
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The reaction to Iwinski’s success has been mixed to say the least. Some are praising Marcin Iwinski for rising up from humble beginnings and working hard for over 20 years. Others, however, are mocking fans of a cyberpunk game celebrating a billionaire, highlighting the irony of their praise as the wealthy are often viewed as villains in cyberpunk fiction, with wealth inequality being a major theme that runs throughout the genre.
All these people stanning billionaires in comments rofl, y'all can do that, fine, it's just ironic in this context because actual cyberpunk as a literary/film genre has always involved critiques of capitalism and explored intersections of technology and societal inequality.
— jonnylobo.bsky.social (@whocaresanime) April 27, 2020
Not everyone is having a negative reaction to the news. Some people are noting that he has exceeded a billion dollars in net worth; he holds assets worth a billion dollars, but he’s not in possession of a literal billion dollars (or four and a half billion złoty, for that matter).
Others note that the Cyberpunk 2077 studio head had rather humble beginnings, growing up in a poor neighborhood of Warsaw, Poland, and helping to build CD Projekt (and subsequently, CD Projekt RED) from the ground up for well over two decades.
https://twitter.com/MadqueenShow/status/1254877199666200579
Whether you’re celebrating Martin Iwinski’s success or not, it’s nonetheless an impressive milestone for this longtime game developer and businessman — and Cyberpunk 2077 isn’t even out yet.
You can look forward to finally playing Cyberpunk 2077 for yourself when it launches on September 17, 2020. In the meantime, you still have a chance of entering a really cool PC building contest and winning a sweet Cyberpunk 2077 custom rig.
