How to Build a Documentation System That Scales: Lessons from CD Projekt Red's Past Mistakes
Introduction
Every seasoned developer knows the sinking feeling when a key team member leaves, taking critical knowledge with them. CD Projekt Red learned this the hard way over two decades, as departing lorekeepers and abandoned tools sabotaged projects like Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty DLC and the upcoming Witcher remake at Fool's Theory. Now, with The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2 on the horizon, the studio has overhauled its production process to make documentation a tight, living part of every milestone. This guide distills their hard-won lessons into a step‑by‑step system for any game studio ready to stop the chaos.
What You Need
- A dedicated technical writing team – even a single writer scaled to the team size.
- Documentation tools – a wiki (e.g., Confluence, Notion), a shared drive for sketches, and version control for story/lore documents.
- Clear milestones – a defined schedule for each development phase (pre‑production, alpha, beta, etc.).
- Team buy‑in – leadership must enforce documentation as a non‑negotiable deliverable.
- Templates – consistent formats for narrative bibles, technical guides, and asset sketches.
- Retention policies – plans to preserve institutional memory even when people leave.
Step‑by‑Step Guide
Step 1: Audit Your Current Documentation Gaps
Start by interviewing department leads and reviewing past projects. List every document that was lost, outdated, or never created. For example, ask: Who maintained the lore timeline? Where are the tool build instructions? CD Projek’s senior technical writer Adrian Fulneczek noted that when a single “lorekeeper” left, entire story threads vanished. Mark these weak spots—they’ll become your priorities.
Step 2: Assign a Technical Writing Team (or Champion)
Senior technical writer Jarosław Ruciński’s team now owns documentation quality. Appoint at least one person whose job is to edit, organize, and enforce update schedules. If your studio is small, rotate this responsibility but keep one lead to maintain consistency. This team should attend milestone reviews and catch missing notes before they accumulate.
Step 3: Mandate Milestone‑Based Documentation Updates
CD Projekt’s new process requires devs to update their internal notes from milestone to milestone—not at the end of a phase. For each milestone, create a checklist: narrative bible changes, tool usage guides, concept sketch folders. Without a deadline, documentation always slips. Use a shared calendar or project management tool to flag due dates. Example: at the end of pre‑production, the story team must deliver an updated narrative bible with all character arcs and world logic.
Step 4: Create Living Documents, Not Static Files
A PDF on a shared drive becomes obsolete the moment it’s saved. Instead, build documentation as living, versioned repositories. Keep lore timelines in a wiki, tool guides in a markdown repo, and sketches in a dedicated folder with change logs. Every update should be tracked with a date and author. This saved CD Projekt when they reused assets for Phantom Liberty—they could trace the origin of each model.
Step 5: Cross‑Train Key Knowledge Holders
One of the biggest failures cited by Ruciński was relying on a single “lorekeeper.” Encourage at least two people to understand each critical document—one to maintain, one to backup. Rotate responsibilities or pair junior and senior writers. This way, if someone leaves, you don’t lose two decades of context.
Step 6: Standardize Tools Across Projects
The studio’s past sins included switching from internal wikis to third‑party tools to save costs, leaving orphaned data. Agree on a single platform for each document type (e.g., Confluence for narrative, Git for technical guides, Google Drive for sketches). Resist the urge to change until the new system is proven and migrated. For The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2, they use the same Unreal Engine workflow, meaning one tooling standard for two major titles.
Step 7: Make Documentation a Deliverable—Not an Afterthought
Treat updated notes with the same importance as a gameplay feature. In milestone reviews, check documentation completeness first. If a department hasn’t updated its guides, that milestone isn’t done. This cultural shift, which CD Projekt now enforces, prevents the last‑minute scramble that once marred the Witcher remake’s early planning.
Tips for Success
- Start small. Don’t rewrite every document at once. Pick the top three pain points (often narrative bibles, tool guides, and asset sketches) and tackle them first.
- Keep it fresh. A 500‑page lore bible nobody reads is useless. Use summaries, visuals, and regular “pruning” sessions to keep documents concise and engaging.
- Celebrate good documentation. Recognize teams that maintain clean notes. Gamify updates or call out examples of saved time during sprints.
- Plan for departures. Create a checklist for exiting employees: hand over all documents, record video walkthroughs if needed, and assign successors during the notice period.
- Use internal anchor links within your wiki to cross‑reference milestones (e.g., a tool guide linked from the narrative bible entry for a specific quest). This mirrors what CD Projekt’s technical writers now do.
- Audit annually. Set a recurring calendar event to review documentation health. Trim dead links, archive obsolete sections, and celebrate what works.
By following these steps, your studio can avoid the chaos CD Projekt Red endured and build a foundation strong enough to support sequels, expansions, and spin‑offs for years to come.