STACK Template

65 / 112

0XX
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
GAMES FEATURE
065