CD Projekt Red have announced another batch of layoffs, this time affecting “around 100” employees, or roughly 9% of the company’s total headcount. The redundancies won’t take place immediately, according to CDPR, as some employees won’t lose their jobs until early next year at the latest.
]]>Last year publisher CD Projekt Red announced Project Sirius, a spin-off to The Witcher from Molasses Flood - the studio behind Flame In The Flood and Drakes Hollow. But it seems we might need to wait a while more to see the untitled project, as it looks like it's getting rebooted to start development from scratch.
]]>A series of senior job listings have revealed some details about The Molasses Flood’s upcoming Witcher game, codenamed Project Sirius. The studio behind Flame In The Flood were acquired by CD Projekt Red back in 2021, and CDPR first mentioned Sirius in an investor call last October. The project was initially described as "an innovative take on The Witcher universe telling an unforgettable story.” We now know that this “unforgettable story” could potentially be told inside of a multiplayer game, or at least a game with multiplayer and social elements.
]]>To coincide with the game’s 15th anniversary today, CD Projekt Red have announced that The Witcher Remake is currently in the early stages of development. The “full-fledged” remake of 2007’s RPG is being developed from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5 and will use the same toolsets that CDPR is creating for their upcoming Witcher trilogy. The studio call the project a “modern reimagining” and say they’re “updating the game for the next generation of gamers to experience it.”
]]>In an update for investors, CD Projekt Red today outlined their "long-term product outlook." It contains some projects we already knew about, such as next year's Cyberpunk 2077 expansion Phantom Liberty, but also many that we did not. That includes a new trilogy of The Witcher RPGs, a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, and a brand new IP being developed by CD Projekt Red, plus two further games in The Witcher universe being created by third-party studios.
]]>The better part of a decade ago, I got really into Gwent. Like, ‘stay up till 3 a.m. scouring The Witcher 3’s vast lands for new cards’ into Gwent. With Gwent: Rogue Mage, I can feel that drive slowly creeping in again.
The latest spin-off from The Witcher trilogy (and technically the spin-off of the standalone Gwent spin-off), Gwent: Rogue Mage puts you in charge of two mages, Alzur and Lyliana, attempting to create the very first Witcher hundreds of years before Geralt’s adventures. They do this by apparently journeying over a board of randomised roguelike encounters, stopping at each one for either a Gwent battle or an event, before facing off against a final boss to bag a mutagen needed for their radical experiments.
]]>Can you believe it’s already been twenty years since CD Projekt Red started making games? No? Well, let’s have a quick refresher of what else happened in 2002 for some perspective: Queen’s Golden Jubilee, check, last confirmed sighting of the Yangtze river dolphin, righto, SARS starts spreading… okay, let’s just stick to tipping our hats at one of Poland’s best known games developers for now. You can start doing that when the CDPR 20th anniversary livestream kicks off at 3pm BST/4pm CEST/7am PDT today.
]]>Dunno if you've heard, but they're making a new Witcher game. Sounds cool, I love indie games. Anyway, it's now been confirmed that the animal medallion they teased a few days ago was a lynx.
"Ok, some mysteries should not be so mysterious," CD Projekt Red's global communication director Robert Malinowski said to Eurogamer. "I can confirm that the medallion is, in fact, shaped after a lynx." So there you go, it's all solved. Except, hang on, I still have no idea what that means.
]]>Last night, CD Projekt announced they were working on a brand-new Witcher game. Details are thin on the ground at the moment. All we have to go on is a cryptic piece of artwork showing what appears to be a lynx-like medallion peeking through some snow, and a declaration that it's going to represent a "new saga" of The Witcher series. Heck, we don't even know if it's technically going to be called The Witcher 4 yet (it probably isn't, in fairness), but for sake of ease that's how I'm going to refer to it for the time being.
Still, talk of a new saga has got me thinking. Does that mean we'll simply see a new protagonist in the existing Witcher timeline we know and love? (Ciri, perhaps, or young hot Vesemir?) Or will it go earlier, maybe tying into the upcoming Netflix prequel The Witcher: Blood Origin that's set 1200 years before the events of the books? Or something else entirely? We probably won't know the answers for some time, but until CD Projekt have more beans to spill, RPS asks: what would you like to see from a new game in The Witcher series?
]]>CD Projekt have today announced they're officially working on the next installment in The Witcher series. Whether this is The Witcher 4, though, we don't know - only that it will be supposedly "kicking off a new saga for the franchise," according to a statement on CD Projekt's website. It will also be kicking off a new venture into Unreal Engine 5, as the developer announced they were leaving their own REDengine behind as they embark on a new, multi-year strategic partnership with Epic Games.
]]>If you thought there was any risk of Netflix dumping Geralt and company in the near future, you can rest your head easy after this weekend. They've now shown off several more clips for the upcoming second season of their main, Cavill-powered Witcher TV series and also announced that they're definitely going to be going for a third season. Not just that, but there are even more Witcher projects on the way: another animated movie, that Blood Origin series, and—for some unfathomable reason—a children's show.
]]>As a child, I wanted to be a Ghostbuster or an Indiana Jones. TBH, I’d still quite like to be either. But I don’t want to be a Witcher after watching The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf's new trailer. It shows off the really rather stressful process that creates a Witcher, and it’s something I don’t want any part of. I prefer my fictional job goals to involve way less imbibing of mutagenic goo*.
]]>Okay video games, I think it's time to go take a cold shower. We've already been beset by young and unnecessarily attractive Hercule Poirot today and now Geralt's Witcher dad has been cursed with a case of nice face as well. Netflix have revealed a longer look at their upcoming animated film The Witcher: Nightmare Of The Wolf and yup, Vesemir is hot now. Or used to be hot, rather. Here's the new trailer, which does actually get into a bit of plot bits aside from sticking yet another monster slayer in a tub.
]]>Yesterday was WitcherCon, which brought news of The Witcher 3 DLC and a release date and trailer for season two of Netflix's The Witcher TV show.
But that's not all Netflix are cooking. We also got a first look at The Witcher: Nightmare Of The Wolf, an animated prequel film following Geralt's mentor, Vesemir.
]]>When WitcherCon was first announced last month, I very much thought it would be some silly thing to capitalise on the success of Netflix's The Witcher series (and, I mean, it still kinda is). But now the full schedule has been revealed, it actually sounds like a pretty good time. On the 9th and 10th of July, the virtual Witcher-themed event will hold panels with the likes of Henry Cavill, chatting about deep lore, trivia, quizzes and updates on the upcoming Witcher TV shows.
]]>Netflix has just tossed out another very short teaser trailer for the second season of their Witcher show. I'm happy to tell you that the teaser confirms yes, Geralt will appear in this season. There's probably some other details in there too aside from the existence of the show's main character, but you're probably going to have to go frame by frame to pick them out. Check it out down here.
]]>Netflix are hot for video games lately, with their number of animated and live-action adaptations now into double digits. Their E3 stream today brought news of even more, including announcements of a Far Cry: Blood Dragon cartoon and casting for their live-action Resident Evil. It has Lance Reddick! But by and large, their stream was a weird shrug with so little information that all they had on one show was a logo. But hey, here's what they had on Cuphead, Castlevania, Splinter Cell, League Of Legends, and others.
]]>On the list of E3-like summer events you didn't know you were getting, go ahead and write down WitcherCon. CD Projekt Red and Netflix have just announced that they're partnering up for their own online event to talk about all things Witcher in July. Well, not all things Witcher. They won't be announcing The Witcher 4 or anything like that, they've already warned. This all came out alongside a rather tiny new teaser trailer for Netflix's The Witcher season 2. Perhaps WitcherCon will reveal a longer one of those, at least.
]]>This is a slightly different episode of The Weekspot. We had to record a little earlier because of the Easter weekend in the UK, and Matthew wasn’t able to come on because of prior commitments.
So, instead of talking to myself for an hour and a half, I drafted in two lovely guests: Josh Wise of VideoGamer and Rich Walker of Xbox Achievements.
]]>In a company strategy video released today, CD Projekt Red have outlined changes they plan to make to the development studio's structure and focus. Chief among the changes is the news that their next project will no longer be a standalone multiplayer Cyberpunk game.
Instead, they're going to focus on developing fundamental technology that will eventually bring multiplayer components to all of their games. This was explained alongside a shift towards "parallel AAA game development", which will allow them to simultaneously work on both Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher series.
]]>I always thought it'd be pretty cool if The Witcher series let you play as a make-your-own Witcher rather than grizzly lad Geralt all the time. While I might not be able to do that in video game form any time soon, I might be able to in a board game instead. CD Projekt Red have announced The Witcher: Old World, a tabletop prequel to The Witcher trilogy, where we'll get to explore and hunt monsters well before Mr. Rivia started bloodying up the place.
]]>Have you played The Witcher? Not the massively popular third one, mind, but CD Projekt's 2008 series-starter. It's a little uglier, a little jankier, and Geralt's face doesn't look quite so dashing. But it's also now free for anyone who downloads the GOG Galaxy client, letting you jump back into Geralt's boots for nary a crown.
]]>All is not well in the land of The Witcher season 2. Production of the Netflix series has reportedly been put on hold after four people working on it tested positive for Covid-19. It seems they've had a pretty rough going of it with the pandemic - they were forced to stop production back in March due to the first lockdown, after actor Kristofer Hivju (who plays a bloke called Nivellen) also tested positive for the virus.
]]>Netflix have shared a wee look at Geralt in the second season of The Witcher, and he's certainly going hard on black leather. Even got leather pecs and leather abs this time. No leather nips, mind. While the live-action series is based primarily on the books, I hope this is the game's influence being felt more, and Geralt will be forever swapping out his swords and jackets as he finds blueprints for new ones in bushes and holes. In one episode, he'll walk into a blacksmith and just clang down twenty swords to cash in.
]]>The second series of the Netflix's The Witcher show is still a way away, especially after production was interrupted by the pandemic, but Netflix do have a wee bit more to tide folks over. Today they released a half-hour behind-the-scenes documentary with cast and crew talking about the making of the show, fittingly titled Making The Witcher. It's not hugely enlightening but does have lots of my favourite behind-the-scenes bits: men in green mocap suits, and sped-up monstrous makeup application.
Speaking of witching, CD Projekt Red announced a new mobile game today, The Witcher: Monster Slayer. It sounds a bit like Pokémon Go with Witcher monsters.
]]>I almost forgot how much everyone raved about The Witcher 2. RPS founder-turned-fugitive Jim Rossignol said in his The Witcher 2 review that "This is one of the most significant games of 2011. Right now it looks like most significant PC-only game of 2011". It's a series that has since become a juggernat, helped made a billionaire, and even overcome the traditionally murderous adaptation to film media.
So I went and played the first one, and never got round to the rest. I really should though.
]]>Here's a nice one for The Witcher fans on this lovely summer afternoon - Netflix have announced they're making a prequel series to teach us all about the beginnings of those mysterious, white-haired monster hunters. Named The Witcher: Blood Origins, it'll be set 1200 years prior to dear old Geralt Of Rivia's story, and will tell us the tale of how "the very first Witcher came to be".
]]>If a Netflix show and years of people going on about it have finally convinced you to consider giving The Witcher a go, good news: to celebrate the fifth birthday of The Witcher 3, the whole series is on sale. Both Steam and GOG have big Witcher sales, including the whole RPG series plus various spin-offs. £10 for The Witcher 3 and both expansions is a good price for so many grimaces and weary sighs, every one of them great.
]]>Well well, it's not every day (or year) that you see a new custom story mod for The Witcher. Yes, the original Witcher with the clunky combat and clunkier menus and questionable voice acting that is still pretty enjoyable despite all that. This new adventure is made in The Witcher 1 but takes place after the events of The Witcher 3. Geralt finds his way back to the outskirts of Vizima where, as usual, there's a murder mystery to solve and a monster to catch.
]]>GOG's Spring sale begins today, and there are lots of free Witcher goodies up for grabs to kick things off. Alas, The Witcher games themselves aren't free as part of the goodie pack (although they're all heavily discounted as part of GOG's Witcher Universe Collection bundle), but it does include lots of Witcher soundtracks, comics, art, wallpapers and a video of some Witcher music being played at The Video Game Show concert. You'll need to get 'em quick, though, as the goodies pack is only available until 2pm UTC tomorrow (March 18th). Read on below for some more highlights.
]]>I cannot believe that that damn song from the Netflix Witcher series only took 10 minutes to write. When Toss A Coin To Your Witcher was thrust upon us by Jaskier just before Christmas, I was not prepared for how catchy the damn thing would be. And neither were the Netflix show's creators, apparently, as the idea for the song came to co-executive producer Jenny Klein while she was thinking about Geralt in the car.
]]>I'm going to level with you, I'm extremely late to the party with The Witcher. I never played the games or read the books, so the Netflix series is very much my entry point to all of its extensive lore. And from what I've seen so far, it demands a fair bit of prior knowledge to truly understand what's going on.
It's good then that Netflix have developed an interactive timeline for us, that describes a whole heap of events throughout The Witcher's history that are alluded to in the show.
]]>If someone enjoyed Netflix's live-action Witcher series and it made them want to try the games, where should they start? Following the show's debut in December, I've had pals who sorta fell out of games pop up asking that to me, some sort of professional opinion-haver. Should they start at the beginning of CD Projekt Red's series? Skip to the end? Are the older games archaic? Is it easy to pick up the plot? I have opinions! Skip the first two and start with The Witcher 3, I tell you. But what would you recommend?
]]>Since Netflix's Witcher series was released last month, there's one particular part of the show that has followed me around the internet like a certain very persistent bard. Jaskier (who you know as Dandelion in CD Projekt RED's Witcher games) sings a silly song at the end of episode two about Geralt's exploits. The lyrics are, frankly, corny. It is not a masterpiece. But boy howdy it is catchy. There are memes and animations and, naturally, someone had to create a mod to add the song to The Witcher.
]]>CD Projekt Red announced today that they have reached a new agreement with the author of The Witcher novels, Andrzej Sapkowski. The announcement is short and light on detail but is aptly timed to suggest new Witcher-related projects are in the works at the Polish games studio.
]]>Merry Witchmas to all the little monsters out there awaiting Geralt's arrival on the small screen. Netflix's adaptation of The Witcher novels by Andrzej Sapkowski has officially kicked off. If you're not doing any holiday prep this weekend you can tuck in and watch all eight episodes starring Henry Cavill and co right now.
]]>The upcoming Netflix show The Witcher is not based on the games, Netflix insist, but rather the same Andrzej Sapkowski books that inspired the games. That doesn't mean that they're not influenced by the games, mind. I suspect they'd never be making this if CD Projekt Red hadn't made Geralt a star. Netflix today released a trailer announcing a December 20th launch date, and the influence of the games is clear: Geralt in a bath. The iconic image of CD Projekt Red's games is Geralt in a tub, and now Netflix have him in a bath? QED, pal.
]]>Everyone’s old Witcher pal Geralt of Rivia is approaching his Netflix debut, and a trailer premiered at San Diego Comic-Con is here to prove it. Tune in for a tale of genocide, some glimpses at familiar characters and monsters, and an impossibly square-jawed Henry Cavill as Geralt. (You know, him off the telly. You might’ve seen him in The Tudors, or bigging it up on the silver screen as Superman in those DC movies.)
]]>There are still many questions around Netflix's upcoming live-action adaptation of The Witcher--Will it be any good? Will Geralt be in that tub? Can I import my save into the telly? Is Geralt in the tub in every episode? Will he sack off quests to play Gwent down the pub? Does Geralt count as being in the tub in every episode if that's just in the opening credits?--but they answered one today. Netflix shared a teeny clip of Man From U.N.C.L.E. star Henry Cavill as Geralt Of Rivia in a costume & makeup test, and it answers one question. How does Cavill handle Geralt's quaff? Like he thinks potions turn you on real good.
]]>Announced during an otherwise dull financial results conference streamed on Twitch, CD Projekt Red announced a minor surprise today. Their long-awaited Gwent singleplayer campaign has grown into a separate and self-contained game all of its own. Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is its new, Gwent-free name, and while obviously related to the free-to-play card game, the company are calling it a lengthy RPG in its own right. As such, it will be sold as a standalone retail game.
]]>If you've played through The Witcher 2 and The Witcher 3, you've spent hundreds of hours with the character of Geralt of Rivia. But have you ever taken the time to go back to the beginning? I... absolutely have not. But I played enough Witcher over the years to have encountered people and quests from the first title that I had to fill in via Wiki work later. So I can see the value in going back to figure out where they all came from.
Today (and possibly tomorrow, there's no end point listed), you can get the first game in the series for free from GOG, along with a card keg for Gwent -- which contains five free cards. The process should only take one minute of your time and we have the details below.
]]>As rumoured and expected, Geralt of Rivia will indeed cross over into Soul Calibur VI. Everyone's seemingly known for ages that the monster-hunting hero The Witcher would appear in the upcoming fighting game sequel, but now it's official. One of my main interests in life is hearing Geralt talk in a weary voice so you betcha I'm up for throwing him through a portal into a new fightworld. He doesn't sound best pleased with the situation in this new trailer. Good.
]]>CD Projekt Red don't have to do much to capture the internet's attention. Remember when they beeped? That was a good day.
Today is also a good day. No beeps or boops or any other sound effects have emerged from the witchy cyberpunkers, but a new chronicle of Geralt's adventures has appeared on the official Witcher twitter feed.
"Kaer Morhen’s old stones have witnessed many battles... Once more they'll feel the sting of sparks as blades collide... Check back tomorrow."
What could it mean? Well, it probably refers to an official Soul Calibur reveal. It almost definitely does.
]]>A new mod for The Witcher 3 recreates the first game's prologue chapter, sending us back with all the bells and whistles of the modern day. As the RPG series kept revisiting characters across games and across the years, my memories of the first game kept updating with the latest game's looks. Watching the mod's trailer contrasting the original and remake, oh wow, nope, it has changed a lot. If you want to stoke wild dreams of a full remake (don't get your hopes up, pal) or simply revisit that fateful day, you can now download the mod. Here, watch this:
]]>Somehow, our lad Geralt's video game adventures have turned ten years old this week. That's ten years of slaying monsters as the silver fox with cat-eyes. Ten years of werewolves, dragons, unicorns, romances and politics, usually all at the same time. Ten years of articles debating how much sex in a video game constitutes too much.
To celebrate the series' tenth anniversary, you can pick up all the games in the franchise (as well as the various bits of DLC) with some hefty discounts this week. These offers are available at GOG if you like your games DRM-free, Humble if you'd like to kick a few pennies towards charity while you buy or Steam, if you like to keep things as simple as possible.
]]>Here’s some interesting trivia for fans of emotionally stunted pest-control men. Footage of a long-cancelled Witcher game has surfaced thanks to some of the Polish developers who worked on the would-be adventure RPG back in the late 90s. This was before CD Projekt Red started work on their own version of The Witcher, and shows the white-haired swordsman we'd come to recognise as Geralt waddling around in dungeons at the mercy of 'tank controls' and taking swings at a burly man in a bar. It looks a bit like Resident Evil, except here the annoying camera angles fly sickeningly across the room.
]]>Few witchers live to have a happy ending but shucks, our lad Geralt has done well for himself. With the tenth birthday of The Witcher games nearing (end of October), a new video from developers CD Projekt Red shows him having a big old knees-up with his mates and loved ones. He is my favourite of all tired old digital men and has been through a lot over a decade and three games. I didn't realise quite how much I cared for this motley crew until I started tearing up seeing them reunited. Bless 'em.
]]>The Witcher franchise is now getting an adult colouring book. It's adult in two senses - one is the sense of colouring books aimed at adults as a relaxation method being a rising trend in the last few years and the other is the sense where you get a picture of Geralt in the nuddy in that tub to colour in. His witcher junk is hidden beneath the water but it's not really the sort of fare you find in the Dr Seuss Colouring Book or the My Very Own Hungry Caterpillar Colouring Book.
]]>Netflix are developing a series based on The Witcher. The press release says it'll be based on "the globally popular fantasy saga from Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski", with only passing mention of the games. As for what it'll be about, the producers Sean Daniel and Jason Brown (of The Expanse) have this to say:
"The Witcher stories follow an unconventional family that comes together to fight for truth in a dangerous world. The characters are original, funny and constantly surprising and we can’t wait to bring them to life at Netflix, the perfect home for innovative storytelling."
It'll be English language and I look forward to my Netflix recommendations to suggest "IF YOU LIKE THE WITCHER YOU SHOULD WATCH THE WORST WITCH".
]]>I’ve playing MGSV obsessively at the moment. You might have noticed. This is a statement which would make 2005 me punch 2015 me in the nose. A decade ago I was so much more forceful and intolerant in my opinions about videogames, and one of the recipients of that unyielding ire was Metal Gear Solid. I played some of 2, felt as though it was simply wasting my time, and that was it, the entire series was irredeemable. Everything I read now suggests I’d still feel that way about MGS2 particularly, but in the wake of Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain, I do realise that in decrying the entire series, I did myself out of some particularly excellent stealth gaming, and a playful streak a mile wide. Which leaves me thinking – what else did I dismiss - or praise - out of hand and now regret?
]]>The launch trailer for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Hearts of Stone [official site] expansion has been unveiled and, as you might expect, it looks very pretty. It's out one week from today on October 13 and before I go any further, why not pop down below and take a look for yourself?
]]>In a move that can only mean they've been receiving my daily letters recreating The Witcher [Official Site] for someone whose heart will only recognise games pre-1995, CD Projekt Red are teaming up with the company behind Cyberpunk 2020 to bring The Witcher to tabletops.
]]>It's a great time for RPGs at the moment, with just about every name, flavour and celebrity from the old days finding a new lease of life through Kickstarter and a freshly hungry audience. Most series and creators though have had at least one game fall prey to development hell - sometimes with their ideas resurfacing in later titles, sometimes with everything simply lost to time. Their levels of completion vary dramatically, but here are some of the games we never got to play...
]]>There were so many great games in Cologne this year and yet I decided that the first thing I'd write about from the show would be the one disappointment. Maybe disappointment comes more naturally to me or maybe I just wanted to get it out of the way - whatever the case, later that evening, I was slightly annoyed with myself for sending a grumpy dispatch rather than a chronicle of the good times. The Witcher 3 presentation that I watched is now online, so you can watch it for yourself below, and then use the comments section to solemnly agree with my judgement, or to thank me. Because if you do enjoy the video, it's thanks to the expectations that I so graciously lowered.
]]>There are four main types of games likely to show up in the big E3 presentations. They are Men With Guns games, Men With Swords games, Men In Cars games and Men In Shorts games, and I seem to have drawn the longsword. Having just peeped at Dragon Age, I've now plucked The Witcher 3 out of the Enormous Hat O' Videos. It's a ridiculously impressive slice of in-game footage, suggesting that CD Projekt are either liars, extremely hard-working and talented, or from the future. Perhaps this sort of giant open world (actually seeming to deserve that tag) with mythical beast hunts is considered ordinary at E3 2025 but it looks damned impressive from 2014.
]]>Dead Crusade is a game that aims to make two great tastes go great together. I mean, crusades have historically ended well, and who could forget all the wonderful times that were had in spite of the Black Death ravaging the European countryside and taking an estimated 75-200 million people? Now, while Dead Crusade uses that insidious murder plague as a backdrop for co-op first-or-third-person hack 'n' slashing, I actually think the Black Death would make for a perfect videogame main character. Finally, a story-justified reason for taking more lives than there are grains of sand in the sky or stars on a beach. Trailer for not that (but still an interesting-ish looking game) below.
]]>SIX.
MILLION.
]]>You couldn't wish for a vaguer statement, but when it comes to what may well prove to be the year's best RPG, talk of a 'new and improved PC version 2.0' is EXCITING TALK. This news comes from the end of a noodly, AOR music video featuring some silly rocker put out by CD Projekt RED late last week. Most of the video is Geralt striking a pose, but the end boasts of the upcoming 360 port - and a major new patch for the PC version, dubbed version 2.0.
I have no details for you than that, but at a guess it will involve bringing the various tweaks, updates and newosity from the console edition into the PC original. Win-win, hopefully. You can watch the music video below, if you must.
]]>With The Witcher 2 looming like a dark juggernaut of RPG-based distraction, we thought it might be a good time to go back and poke around in the original game. Just what was it that really made it sing? (There may be some mild spoilers ahead.)
Forget about the sex cards, forget about the five hour slog through the Outskirts, ignore the occasionally shoddy writing and voice work, and let’s focus on how The Witcher deals with choice. It's a piece of game design that demands respect.
]]>Richard has a brand new T-Shirt that says 'One Of The World's First Players Of The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings'. They don't give those to just anybody. He'd probably better tell you about what he saw while questing for the right to wear it...
]]>It took me eight straight hours to crawl through the sewers, beneath Cologne's conference centre and then up through an impossibly tight U-bend into a disused toilet somewhere in the North Hall, but finally I was back at GamesCom. The guards had turned me away when I'd tried to enter through the main doors - disgusted by the foul breath that had resulted from eating a sleeping tramp's shoes and by the rotting pigeon-skin loincloth I had been forced to don once I'd sold my last clothes to afford a cup of frightening grey coffee. I thought of Quintin, and his shoes made of finest unicorn hide. Perhaps he could spare me a promotional t-shirt to cover my filthy body? But not. He would have his minders throw in the Rein on sight. Better to carry on, and to my next appointment. At least the world of this game would mirror my own condition. Onwards, and to the Witcher 2.
]]>After yesterday's video, UberJumper on the SA forums noticed it includes on a one-frame message to the devoted (i.e. Those heroically mental enough to advance it frame by frame). Click through the image above to see the whole thing. Paraphrase: we sold 1.5 million! Awesome! Unlike people who say PC RPG is dead. Witcher was awesome, but we've learned a load since then. Next one will be better, and built with our own tech rather than Bioware's Aurora engine to allow non-linear plots and living world. Key quote: "A game created by a team of independent thinkers, immune to corporate priorties, who don't care what's trendy at a given moment".
]]>EDIT: Now with trailer, below.
There's a big number '2' on the front page of TheWitcher.com. I think it might mean something. But what? I'm pretty sure it's related to the number of eggs the CEO of CD Projekt RED likes in his ham and mushroom omlettes, but then I've been know to be wrong before. I mean, some people think could be something to do with there being a sequel to quietly huge RPG The Witcher, but c'mon, who makes sequels to videogames these days?
The site forbids any interaction at the moment, but I suspect it'll relax that very, very soon. (Now, in fact.)
]]>Polish role-playing epic The Witcher: Enhanced Edition has a muscular new patch. It flexes its 369mb torso to remove DRM, the CD check, to fix a couple of tech issues and to add in five of the best community-made scenarios into the game, for more fantastical adventures. You can download it here, but I can't find any confirmation of whether it updates automagically on Steam, but I have to assume it will. Maybe. I'm waiting for an answer from CD Projekt, but does anyone know?
]]>And the award for Most Prosaic-Ever RPS Headline goes to...
All's been a bit quiet around well-received, dodgily-translated blood'n'boobs'n'moral deliberation RPG The Witcher for a while, with its fans hoping E3 might offer news of a follow-up. No such luck, unfortunately, but there is more Witcher inbound - the 1.5 patch, which promises two rather exciting changes. Also, CD Projekt RED's cavalier mention of a "Director's Cut" will doubtless fuel a speculatory fire.
]]>You probably spotted this from last week, but I wanted to reprise the story to lead into some other thoughts about The Witcher. Polish fantasy RPG The Witcher has sold 1 million copies. That's a fair amount for a game on any format. Developers CD Projekt are rightly pleased with this, and I'm glad that this unexpected success has allowed them scope to continue and expand their RPG-building projects. The Witcher was one of those games that made me say: "I'd like to see what they do next." I usually say that only to find that the company in question has gone bust (sorry, Troika) but it looks like that won't be the case here.
]]>That's right, The Witcher: Enhanced Edition patch is now available for those of you who bought the game the first time around. It's a beefy 1.2gb and there's a mirror here.
]]>Eurogamer get me to review the Enhanced Edition of the Witcher. Wherein I start like this...
]]>Popular monster-thumping RPG The Witcher is being overhauled for 2008 with new lines of dialogue and new motion-captured gestures from the NPCs. CD Projekt are showing off these improvements in their latest trailer - and they do seem to be a fairly substantial improvement on the original ham. You can also switch languages in any version of the game, so playing with the Polish or German dialogue and English subtitles should be possible, if you fancy that foreign-language videogame experience.
]]>When I made my appointment to go and see Atari the only PC game they’d announced they were going to show was Deer Hunter Tournament. I thought I’d go along anyway as it might be kind of interesting – I’ve never played a Deer Hunter game, but I’ve heard they kind of have a naturiffic ambience, if you forget all that huntin’ and killin’ – but I didn’t actually end up looking at the title.
That’s because of Tomasz Gop. Tomasz works for CD Project Red and was Assistant Producer of The Witcher, and was on hand to show The Witcher: Enhanced Edition.
]]>The Witcher website reveals that CD Projekt have released the 1.3 patch, which is stuffed to the gills with the adventure editor, and a new quest-o-thing, The Price Of Neutrality. Apparently the new adventure is about two hours long, with multiple endings. It explores the activities of others Witchers, as glimpsed only briefly in the original game.
]]>While our own feelings about The Witcher hover around worthy-but-flawed, other folks felt it was easily last year's best RPG. And, honestly, that's more than enough to make it worth talking about here. Especially in light of the upcoming Enhanced Edition, which promises to redress the major complaints about the original.
I'm happily stunned that the new version's happening, both because it proves that I'm not alone in finding that dialogue akin to chatting with a crack-addled hobo makes it hard to love the game, and because perhaps I'll enjoy it this time around. It's rare enough that a game's most serious failings can be distilled into a key problem; rarer still that a game's creators hold their hands up to it; impossibly rare that they fix it. Kieron's take on the EE is that it's the sort of professional perfectionism that lead to the Star Wars special editions (as in making 'em slicker, not as in making Greedo shoot first), but I think of it more like some noisy young band taking the hipster scene by storm, then realising they need to learn to play their instruments properly if they want to make it /really/ big.
While we wait to find out what that new sound is like, we had a brief chat with CD Projekt RED's Michal Medej, the game's Chief Designer. Read on for his reasoning as to why the original translation fell down, how the Enhanced Edition fixes it, CD Projekt's future, thoughts on Bioware and Bethesda and, yes, those infamous nudey collector cards.
]]>A video discussing the new features and improvements in the enhanced version of The Witcher has appeared. Except, well, rather unfortunately the sound and syncing means it has an awful lot in common with the original game. If you can cope with the muddle of trying to read subtitles with the sound in all the wrong places, there's information to be gleaned. (Working version below the cut).
]]>Crivens, this is unprecedented. Last year's most divisive RPG, The Witcher, is to be re-released. But not just re-released in a shiny box and with extra smutty collector's cards - re-made, almost. Loading times are to be cut by up to 80%, stability's in for a-fixin' and there are to be improvements in "interactivity and precision in combat." Most fascinatingly for me - as it was the often painfully wobbly dialogue that most kept the game from my affections - its script and voiceovers are in for a near-complete overhaul.
"The English-language version will, for the most part, be completely re-done. The amount of text in that version was reduced compared to other language versions and that was said to cause a significant decrease in immersion and atmosphere. Now the English version will be as polished and atmospheric as the other language versions."
That's still not all. Bloody hell.
]]>The much delayed demo of fantasy lady-collecting, monster-hunting romp The Witcher is now available for your perusal. The demo, which is a fantastical 1.97gb in breadth (141 Peggles, FYI), contains the tutorial prologue and the first act, making it so big that if you played it and then bought the full game you'd be annoyed by how much you'd have to replay to get to the same point. (Probably)
]]>As we've been, ah, discussing The Witcher and its approach to sex here lately, it's worth (somewhat reluctantly) mentioning that Playboy has apparently released its now annual 'Girls of Gaming' issue. Perhaps unsurprisingly, The Witcher features in it. After the jump is the list of pretend women set to display their pretend genitalia in it, together with a sexy picture from one of the games concerned.
]]>(Thanks, Gametrailers. Thametrailers)
Someone called Martin Pagan posts on Gamefaqs, explaining that the script for The Witcher was given a decent translation, and then "butchered" to result in the garbled mess that now exists in the game (see the clip above - my favourite moment - and I stress, this is one continuous scene, no editing).
We can't be certain Pagan is for real, but if it's true, it certainly explains some things. Is this Atari trying to cut corners and save money on the voice recording?
]]>Something new I thought I'd try. Kind of inspired by ever-lovin' Kyle Orland's A Game For Lunch, basically, it's a first impressions based solely on the first hour of a game. One hour, no more. Clearly, this isn't a real review or anything, just a collection of initial impressions. And clearly this serves the dual purpose of creating a thread for people who have played the game further to add their own impressions. That said, a motif that occurs again and again when talking to the most successful developers is the paramount importance of the first hour of play. It may be cruel, but if a developer working in the mainstream can't get the first hour right, there's a large question mark over whether they can't get ANYTHING right. Bear that in mind.
Anyway, The Witcher. For those who haven't been paying attention, it's a Polish RPG based around a cult-pulp fantasy books from out there. Essentially, its "thing" is that it takes all the standard fantasy tropes, and drags them through the gutter. Racism is a big theme - smartly, as racism is something built into the foundations of most modern fantasy (i.e. Some races are lesser than others. You can kill orcs and take all their stuff as - hey! - they're orcs) - and you have things like the Elves being radical terrorists and so on. Sex, drugs, violence and an albino with a big sword (i.e. you). Adult, mature fantasy. Abstractly.
Here's what I made of the Witcher in its designated hour..
]]>John somehow - i.e. Couldn't Think Of A Funny Joke (But - hey! - as if that's ever stopped him before) - missed out the Witcher from his round-up of PC game releases this week, so it's worth bringing to your attention, as it's the biggest release unless you're a foot-to-ball fan. It looks like this.
And that's you, The Witcher. No matter what you want - like, say, looking like someone who isn't a incy-wincy bit derived from top Albino Eternal Champion and general glorious self-obsessed fuck-wit Elric - that's still you. This threw Dan Whitehead over at Eurogamer in his review, where he argues - pretty much - if you can't create your own character, it's not a role-playing game. Which was such a debatable claim, it (er) immediately provoked a debate. In fact, I initiated it, because upon reading the review's intro, I mumbled "Christ, Dan, you're going to get slaughtered for that, mate", so I thought by getting it rolling in a relatively pleasant way, it'll save the inevitable Final-Fantasy fan arriving throwing a stroppy trantrum in the manner of a final Fantasy character.
But still, it is a perennial question (i.e. It gets argued on forums only slightly less often than Whether Games Or Art) and I thought I'd try and do relatively brief take on it. Feel free to provide yours, as one of the main reasons to lob this stuff in public is so people can pick it to pieces, so I can rethink gaping flaws.
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