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under the hood stuff – we optimised
how the game ran and focused on
eliminating bugs.”
Following the initial success of the first
Witcher title, CD Projekt RED attempted to
port the game to console enlisting French
studio Widescreen Games to complete
the task. It was an absolute disaster and
was scrapped after less than a year in
production. While the studio has had prior
experience with console development (The
Witcher II: Assassins of Kings only came out
on Xbox 360 as the PS3 was purportedly to
hard to work out), it's the first time the game is
coming out on the PlayStation platform.
Platkow-Gilewski says the console versions
were always in the planning and that they
'wanted to make a truly multiplatform game
right from the start'.
“We did a lot of research before making
the decision to launch on all platforms
simultaneously,” explains Platkow-Gilewski.
“We tested waters with the Xbox 360 launch
of The Witcher II: Assassins of Kings ,
so this time we’re even better prepared to
launch on consoles.
“As for the PlayStation gamers, they need
not worry – we’ve created Wild Hunt in such
a way that for newcomers it’s basically a
standalone game. Every major character will
be gently reintroduced, every recurring theme
explained. What’s more, we’ve managed to
do this delicately enough so longtime fans still
see this as a natural continuation of the game.
Our story team is pretty awesome.”
While Andrzej Sapowski created The
Witcher universe, he has no input in
development. In fact, he doesn’t even like
video games, so the narrative in the Witcher
titles are conceived by the studio. The world in
Wild Hunt is purportedly 30 times bigger than
the previous Witcher games and a whopping
20 per cent larger than Skyrim. That’s a lot of
open world to fill with content.
“We had to develop our own idea of how
to create worlds, I guess,” says Platkow-
Gilewski. “I spent a lot of time talking with
the team on their vision of an open world
and it always struck me that it was never
anything like 'let’s just make a huge mass
of land and fill it with stuff'.
“Everything was created with a purpose.
For example, gameplay teams requested a
part of the world to be created, so environmental
teams had an idea of the purpose of what they
were creating. The world was not created and
filled with content, it’s content that created the
world. And it’s huge.”
If this expansive world isn’t enough for
gamers, CD Projekt RED are already
planning a significant amount of
DLC. And what’s even better, the studio are
releasing 16 free bits of DLC after the game
comes out, including cosmetic items for key
characters and even contracts.
Platkow-Gilewski explains: “We owe gamers
for supporting us and free DLC is our way of
saying 'thank you'. But that’s not everything.
As a company, we’re not particularly fond of
what’s going on with the industry with regard
to downloadable content.
“Gamers are being charged for things we
think should be free and we wanted to put the
money where our mouth is. We see a clear
line between content that makes paying for
it sensible, and content that should be free.
And we try to lead by example."
Not all the DLC is free. CD Projekt RED
recently announced two drops of DLC
called Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine.
With over 30 hours of gameplay included
here, the studio wanted to deliver content
that was worthy of a price tag.
“We’ve just announced two expansions to
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt that will give gamers
30 hours of adventures,” Platkow-Gilewski says.
“They will introduce new characters and items,
and even a totally new region of the world.
“Both Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine are
huge and meaningful, and we think that when
gamers see how much effort we put into creating
them, they won’t feel ripped off seeing that
they’re not free. That’s the whole point for us.”
Since the first game back in 2007, the
Witcher series has stamped its own identity in
a crowded genre – no easy task. Anticipation
for the final game in the trilogy is at fever pitch,
and this is likely to be one of the biggest games
of 2015. What does Platkow-Gilewski attribute
the studio’s success to? Is there a secret to
CD Projekt RED’s success?
“Learning from what you do, I think.
There’s no magic thing one needs to do that
grants you success. You need a dedicated
team, you need ideas, and you need to work
really hard. That, plus a bit of luck.”
We've created Wild Hunt
in such a way that for
newcomers it's basically a
standalone game
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