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Tag: The Witcher

  • ‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’ Delayed to 2015

    Last year’s PlayStation 4 announcement event and E3 provided gamers with a wealth of new wonderful-looking games for the next generation of video game consoles. As seen in the delay of Watch Dogs, however, many of these games are likely to push past their planned release dates as the reality of next-gen development cycles closes in on studios.

    The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the latest of those games to be delayed past its planned release date. CD Projekt RED today issued an open letter to fans and investors informing them that The Witcher 3 has been delayed until February 2015.

    From the letter:

    We recently reexamined what we had achieved thus far, and faced a choice about the game’s final release date. The decision we made was difficult, thoroughly considered, and ultimately clear and obvious. We could have released the game towards the end of this year as we had initially planned. Yet we concluded that a few additional months will let us achieve the quality that will satisfy us, the quality gamers expect from us. Consequently, we have set the release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for February 2015.

    The letter went on to apologize to Witcher fans for the delay, stating that the game will “prove to be worth the wait.” CD Projekt also addressed the studio’s investors, maintaining that the delay is “valid is business terms” because the studio believes quality is ultimately the most important factor in a game’s success.

  • ‘The Witcher’ Comic Books Coming Early Next Year

    Video game comic books are beginning to become quite the trend. Even unproven games such as Ryse: Son of Rome are getting their own comics before they are even released.

    Today, though, Dark Horse Comics announced one of the most appropriate gaming comics in recent memory. The Witcher series will be serialized by the publisher in what it describes as a “character-driven, non-linear story set in a gritty and living world.” Though Dark Horse states the comics will be based on the RPGs, The story of The Witcher games was originally taken from a series of Polish fantasy novels, making its adaptation back to print less odd.

    “We’re very happy to be working with Dark Horse Comics, which is one of the biggest and most interesting comic book publishing houses in the world,” said Adam Badowski, studio head at CD Projekt RED, the developer behind The Witcher games. “What makes it even more exciting is the fact that, for many of us, the Dark Horse logo has near legendary status, standing for classic characters such as Hellboy or Usagi Yojimbo. We’re very happy to be once again expanding The Witcher universe,”

    The first issue of Witcher is scheduled for release on March 19, 2014. The comics will be adapted by Paul Tobin, who won an Eisner Award this year for Best Digital Comic for his work on Bandette.

    (Image courtesy Dark Horse)

  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s Violent New Trailer

    Back in February, just before the announcement of the PlayStation 4, CD Projekt RED (CDPR) announced the next installment in the critically-acclaimed Witcher series. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will once again follow Geralt of Rivia, this time as he explores a Skyrim-like open world and clashes with members of the Wild Hunt.

    The Witcher 3 is being developed alongside CDPR’s new REDengine 3 game engine. As a next-gen title, the few screenshots of the game already released have been visually stunning. Now, a new CG trailer for The Witcher 3 shows off how cut-scenes might look in-game.

    A quick warning before the video. It does fit with the very mature themes and visuals of past Witcher titles, which means it features significant violence. It may be particularly rough for those who could be triggered by violence against women.

    The Witcher 3 is scheduled for release sometime during 2014. It will be released on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.

  • ‘The Witcher’ Developer Opens New Studio in Poland

    Though the studio has released only two games, CD Prrojekt RED (CDPR) today announced that it will be expanding its operations. The developer has opened a new studio in Krakow, Poland.

    CDPR is the developer of The Witcher and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, both of which were hits with critics. The developer’s main studio in Warsaw, Poland was founded in 2002. The company also operates the popular DRM-free online game store GOG. CDPR’s announcement stated that the new Krakow studio will “bolster” the development of its current projects.

    “A new studio, new people and new energy – we’re growing and we’re extremely excited that we can tap into the potential that Krakow has to offer,” said Adam Badowski, managing director of CDPR. “We want to continue to make better and better RPGs and the new studio is another big step in that direction. Krakow, one of the cultural and scientific centers of Europe, is a really special place that will leave a significant mark on our games.”

    CDPR is currently working on two next-generation video games. One is the third game in the Witcher series, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which is currently slated for a release sometime in 2014. The other Cyberpunk 2077, a new RPG set in the future dystopia of the Cyberpunk pen-and-paper RPG.

    Cyberpunk 2077 doesn’t have a release window yet, and won’t be complete until 2015 at the earliest. What it does have is one of the best CGI teaser trailer for a video game since Dead Island:

  • New Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Details Revealed

    It’s been less than one month since CD Projekt RED (CDPR) officially announced The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but the Polish developer is already addressing key details an providing screenshots of the game. In fact, ever since it became official that the game would be coming to the PlayStation 4 it has seemed as if CDPR has completed much of the game’s design. The reveal that the game will be released in 2014 lends some credence to that hypothesis.

    This week, CDPR has revealed even more about their upcoming open-world fantasy RPG. In a statement released today the developer is now making bold proclamations about Wild Hunt, such as the claims that all of the players’ decisions in major plot quests and some side quests will interact with each other in some way and change the game world, “creating an even more nonlinear experience than ever before.”

    “The Witcher 3 is full of impactful decisions, and gamers will choose between storylines that exclude one another in a single playthrough, ensuring extensive replay value,” said Adam Badowski, managing director of CDPR. “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt crowns the trilogy with the main narrative, revolving around Geralt’s search for his loved ones and his conflict with the Wild Hunt. As players travel through the game, they visit lands with their own unique atmosphere, communities and memorable characters. CD Projekt RED didn’t create an open world with a singular theme, but concentrated on delivering diversified and engaging environments, 30 times larger than those in The Witcher 2.”

    That may sound like a BioWare or Peter Molyneux-level claim, but CDPR is one of the few studios that might be able pull off an in-depth next-generation RPG. At the very least, the game will provide days worth of entertainment. The studio has announced that the game’s main campaign will take around 50 hours to complete, and that “additional stories” will add another 50 hours of gameplay.

  • The Witcher 3 Announced as a PlayStation 4 Title

    Now that Sony has finally unveiled its PlayStation 4 console, developers can finally reveal their next-generation projects. Many new games, including some new IPs, were revealed at the conference and some impressive claims were made.

    However, one developer that wasn’t at the conference last night didn’t wait for Sony or Microsoft to unveil its next-generation game. Earlier this month, CD Projekt RED (CDPR) announced that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be released for all “top-of-the-line consoles,” a thinly veiled reference to next-generation consoles. Now that the PlayStation 4 is public, the developer has followed up by making it official that Wild Hunt will be coming to Sony’s new console.

    “We were thrilled when asked, several months ago, to be one of the developers who were granted early access to the PlayStation 4,” said Adam Badowski, managing director of CDPR. “It was an exciting moment to be invited to be in the company of other legendary developers like Bethesda, EA, LucasArts, Ubisoft or Activision as one of the teams working on titles shipping early in the PlayStation 4’s lifecycle. Of course, we couldn’t reveal any specifics about this to our fans, even though many journalists and forum members asked about when and how The Witcher might show up on Sony’s console. After yesterday’s PlayStation Meeting we can finally promise: The Witcher 3 is coming to the PlayStation 4. The new hardware gives us the opportunity to create something great. We are able to work with the new console from its birth and this allows our in-house REDengine 3 to push the graphical limits of what the PlayStation hardware can display. The console is fresh and has some innovative solutions that we’re looking forward to using in our game”

    The Witcher 3 has been announced as a “fully open-world game with an intense story.” Gamers will be placed in a world larger than Skyrim and let loose to slay monsters, play politics, and craft gear.

  • The Witcher 3 Will End the Witcher Series

    The Witcher 3 Will End the Witcher Series

    The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was unveiled today via an exclusive look in the latest issue of Game Informer. Now, though, CD Projekt RED (CDPR) has released even more details on the upcoming sequel to its acclaimed series.

    First, the melancholy news: The Witcher 3 will be the final Witcher game. That may be distressing for fans of the series, but it also means that CDPR will be focusing on bringing new titles to market, rather than allowing their successful series to jump the shark.

    “People may ask if this is really going to be the last Witcher game. Yes, it is,” said Adam Badowski, managing director of CDPR. “Why? Because we believe that we should end the series on a high note. Technology has progressed to where we can finally tell the story the way we want, with the visuals we want, in the world we imagined. This will be the ultimate fantasy RPG experience, and while we’re hardly out of stories to tell, we believe it’s time for us to look to new worlds and new horizons to keep pushing the boundaries of what we can create.”

    As announced this morning, The Witcher 3 will be an open-world-style RPG, similar to the Elder Scrolls games.

    “The captivating and non-linear story of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt takes place in a rich, truly open-world environment,” said Badowski “A world which is thrilling to explore, full of daring adventures, momentous quests, memorable characters, and unique monsters. Players will freely travel through woods, lakes, mountains, cities and villages. Each region is inhabited by distinct populations with their own customs, legends and problems. The world of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is 30 times bigger than The Witcher 2,”

    The Witcher 3 will be released sometime in 2014 on “all high-end platforms,” which is code for PC and next-generation consoles. The game will be created using the recently announced REDengine 3, a game engine designed by CDPR specifically for open-world RPGs.

    The new teaser trailer for The Witcher 3 isn’t much more than a title reveal. It took around three months after the announcement of Cyberpunk 2077 for that game’s sexy trailer to show up, so a real teaser trailer for The Witcher 3 sometime this spring isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Officially Announced

    When CD Projekt RED (CDPR) released its sexy Cyberpunk 2077 trailer, dedicated gamers picked apart every frame and discovered hidden messages. Among them was the tease that more information on a “fully open-world game with an intense story” would be coming on February 5. Speculation that The Witcher 3 would be announced quickly spread.

    It turns out the rumors were true. The Witcher 3 has been officially announced in the latest issue of Game Informer.

    According to the write-up, the game world will be even larger than Skyrim, and the story will not be split into chapters. Instead, gamers will get free reign to wander the massive world slaying monsters, getting involved with the local politics, and crafting weapons and armor.

    The screenshots of the game are supposedly running on development hardware. If true, it seems clear that The Witcher 3 will not be appearing on the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. Though CDPR did not explicitly say the game will be coming to next-gen consoles (such as the PlayStation 4), but it did say the game will appear on all “top-of-the-line” consoles, which is almost certainly code for next-gen consoles. Also, the game will be built on the recently announced REDEngine 3, a “next-gen ready” game engine specifically created for open-world RPGs.

    The video feature below reveals a bit about why CDPR chose to go the open-world route, and what may lie in store for Geralt:

  • CD Projekt RED Announces “Next-Gen Ready” Game Engine

    CD Projekt RED, the game studio behind The Witcher series and GOG, today announced its latest game engine, the REDengine 3. The developer claims the engine was created for “RPGs set in vast open-worlds with improved tools for spanning truly nonlinear stories that are based on real player choices and consequences.” That description sounds almost exactly like The Witcher 2, and also resembles what has been revealed about Cyberpunk 2077, the upcoming sci-fi game from CD Projekt.

    “If we look at RPGs nowadays we find two approaches, one which emphasizes the story but limits the game world and one that builds a vast open-world but hampers and simplifies the story,” said Adam Badowski, head of CD Projekt RED. “With the REDengine 3 we combine the positive aspects of both approaches for the first time, creating an open environment with a complex, multi-thread story. Together with believable characters, a captivating tale and a world where players can roam freely without loading times, we will be able to move gaming to a new level with a realistic feel and full player immersion. When working on our previous titles, I didn’t dream that we would achieve something like this. Thanks to the support of all our fans, now we have the possibility to use REDengine 3 and create something many RPG fans dream of.”

    CD Projekt RED stated that Cyberpunk 2077 will “have prime examples demonstrating that REDengine 3 is the perfect tool for creating immense universes filled with exciting, nonlinear adventures.” It also stated that REDengine 3 has new face and body animation systems that “offer realistic expression of emotions, movie-quality scenes, and character interactions” and that the engine will “blur the line between pre-rendered CGI movies and real time rendered graphics.” If that means Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay will look similar to its (sexy trailer), next-gen gaming can’t come soon enough.

  • CD Projekt RED Announces GOG, The Witcher 2 For Mac,

    CD Projekt RED, the Polish developer behind The Witcher series and the Good Old Games (gog.com) online store today held its big announcement event celebrating 4 years of GOG.

    The majority of the event revolved around the day’s biggest announcement that GOG will now be offering many of its games on Mac OS. Starting today, 50 GOG games are available, 28 of which have never been available for Mac before. GOG is well-known for offering older PC games from the 80s and 90s as well as offering all of their games without any digital rights management (DRM).

    One of the games that will be offered for Mac is CD Projekt RED’s latest hit RPG The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition. The title is now available via GOG or Steam, and is being offered for only $22.49 for the next 48 hours. The Witcher Enhanced Edition is also being made available during that time for $5. Customers who already own The Witcher 2 for will be given access to a copy for Mac

    In fact, all of Mac games offered on GOG, including The Witcher 2, will be hybrid, meaning customers will get both the PC version and the Mac version for one price. Also, the games will not have any DRM, allowing customers to use and copy the games as they see fit.

    A native OS X downloader app was released to coincide with the announcement, allowing Mac users to speed the download of their purchased titles.

    As a celebration of GOG’s 4th birthday, the company has teamed up with Interplay to offer dozens of classic titles in an “indie bundle” format. For a limited time, customers on GOG will be able to pay whatever they want for 8 Interplay games, including Shattered Steel, Screamer, and Evolva. Customers paying over the average will get 20 Interplay games, including Descent 3, Earthworm Jim 3D, and Fallout. Those paying $35 will get all 32 Interplay games available through GOG, including Fallout 2, Fallout: Tactics, Descent 1 &2, and Earthworm Jim 1&2. The total collection comes with tons of extra goodies, such as soundtracks, manuals, wallpapers, The Fallout Bible, and more.

  • Time Running Out For The Witcher and The Witcher 2 Backups

    CD Projekt RED, the Polish developer behind The Witcher and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings have announced that gamers without an activation key for the games have only 10 days left to claim their digital backup of the games from GOG.com. For those gamers who do have their activation key, the backup program will continue for “the foreseeable future.”

    CD Projekt RED has also announced that the price for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings has been lowered to $40 in territories that pay in U.S. Dollars. This excludes the U.K., Australia, and E.U. countries, but the company has stated that its “Fair Price Package” has been updated to give gamers a “fair value for their money no matter where they live.”

    The backup program was started to give fans of The Witcher series a DRM-free copy of the games, along with extra content such as wallpapers, videos, and artbooks. So far, CD Project RED claims to have given away more than 3 million backup copies of the game. Gamers without a product key for either game were able to receive their backup copy by undergoing a “manual” verification of their game purchase. That is the part of the program that will be ending as of June 31.

    Last month CD Projekt RED announced that it is currently developing a video game based on the Cyberpunk pen-and-paper roleplaying game (RPG). The game is slated to be a non-linear RPG set in a brutal futuristic world inspired by William Gibson and Phillip K. Dick.

  • Cyberpunk Video Game Announced by CD Projekt

    Polish developer CD Projekt, the development studio behind The Witcher series of games, has announced it is developing a new “AAA” roleplaying video game based on the pen and paper RPG Cyberpunk. The announcement came as part of the CD Projekt Red Group Summer Conference 2012.

    Cyberpunk will feature a decadent futuristic world in which ultra-modern technology co-exists with a degenerated human society. Similar to The Witcher series, Cyberpunk will be a mature RPG for adults. The announcer for the event stated that the game will be realistic and “brutal, when it has to be…we are not making a game for everyone.”

    The game will feature a “gripping, non-linear story” that is inspired by authors such as William Gibson and Phillip K. Dick, as well as by the movie Blade Runner. Players will be able to choose from multiple classes, and the combat system in the game is based off of the system used in the Cyberpunk pen and paper RPG. A “gigantic” arsenal of weapons, upgrades, implants, and high-tech toys were also promised, including ways for players to enhance their characters with cybernetics.

    No gameplay footage was shown during the announcement, though Cyberpunk creator Mike Pondsmith was on-hand to speak about the origins of the pen and paper game. In fact, CD Projekt announced that they are currently hiring developers to work on the project, stating that they are looking for the best people since they are “making the best game.”

    Aside from the Deus Ex franchise, the cyberpunk genre has been virtually non-existant in modern video games. The development studio today promised to “set a new standard for the futuristic RPG genre” by delivering an intelligent, non-linear adult game with amazing graphics. Judging by the quality of The Witcher 2, CD Projekt just might be able to deliver on those promises and reinvigorate the cyberpunk genre.