CD Projekt RED Opens New Studio in Kraków
CD Projekt RED has opened a new development studio in Kraków, Poland. The position they’re currently hiring for is that of a concept artist for both The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077.
The Witcher 3 DRM-Free on PC; “Gamer Friendly” on Consoles
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be DRM-free on PC, in line with what CD Project RED has previously said about DRM. However, the PC version is fine but what’s really making people concerned is the DRM on consoles. CD Project RED strictly opposes DRM and with Xbox One implementing strict DRM, it will be interesting to see how the studio will solve the issue.
“I can only talk about our intentions; we don’t have any agreement finalized yet,” CD Projekt co-founder Marcin Iwiński tells Joystiq. “It’s all quite early and we’re finding out about it this week, at the conference. But our intention, obviously, is to choose the most gamer-friendly solution.”
“Whatever the solutions will be for our partners, we choose something ideally as close to what we have on GOG as possible.”
“There’s one important comment I’d like to make. When we announced [The Witcher 3] at the Microsoft conference, we saw a lot of comments on the internet. ‘Hey, you should not release the game on Xbox One.’ I think, really, that’s not fair to a lot of gamers who choose Xbox One as a platform. We strongly believe in the freedom of choice, and not releasing the game on any of the platforms would be a disadvantage,” He continued.
“Gamers, ultimately, especially right now when the new platforms are showing up, choose what they think is fine for them,” says Iwiński. “Some people will have good connectivity with the internet and have no problem, and they’ll just go with the Microsoft solution. On the other hand, we’ll see how it will be changing in time, because I think there will be a lot of things happening on the market and competition between all the platform holders. The thing that will not change will be PC and DRM-free.”
”People are overdramatizing to a certain extent,” he says. “I just want to assure them that we are true to our values, and will not punish any gamers. At the same time, they can choose whatever they see fit.”
“I think the level of involvement of the audience, especially gamers, who are super connected online, has changed, so they’re very vocal about it,” Iwiński says. “I think this is particular in our industry. Are you really going to go online and bash a washing machine that you don’t like? I don’t think that you have such a personal attachment to it, but games, movies, books, they’re very vocal about it.”
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Screenshots Released from E3
Screenshots from the E3 presentation of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been released. In the screens we see Geralt battling monsters both in the open but also in the forests.
Lords of the Fallen First Screens
The first screens for Lords of the Fallen has been released. The game is slated for a release on PS4, Xbox One, PC. The release date has not been revealed at press time.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – The Beginning, Debut Gameplay Released
The developer behind The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has revealed a new video titled “The Beginning”. In it we hear about the various features of the game, the “hero” Geralt of Rivia, and the story. Below you can find the features found in the game along with both trailers. We have “The Beginning” trailer and the debut gameplay showed during E3.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt features:
- Vast, living, open world full of meticulously created quests and Points of Interest, 35 times bigger than the one in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
- Genre-defining story set in a universe created by the acclaimed writer Andrzej Sapkowski
- Redesigned combat mechanic that merges a fluid and highly responsive skirmish system with the precision of a dedicated fighting game
Some New The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Details
EDGE‘s cover story this month was of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. In good fashion some of the information released by the magazine has been transcribed. You can find all of the details below:
- There will be no overt tutorial instead mechanics will gradually be introduced.
- Combat system now has dodge in order to be closer to the pirouettes found in the books.
- Geralt can choose to execute or spare bandits, though he can loot them either way.
- They are targeting 30fps on console.
- Geralt will change his stance according to the task he is faced with e.g. wary if surrounded by a pack of monsters.
- They added Witcher sense similar to Batman’s Detective mode so you can see weak points on monsters like The Fiend’s lungs, or outside of battle to re create events like tracking a murderer.
- Main storyline is 40-50hrs, and another 40-50 in the open world.
- No “Fedex Quests.”
- Choice and consequence will ripple across the world.
- Don’t want to build a sandbox experience, storytelling is still the main goal.
- Some locations: Skellige: Nordic-style archipelago, Slavic-like No Mans Land and city of Novigrad.
- Geralt can jump. In-house motion capturing, though the horse was done somewhere else.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Images Released
Images from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt have been released. Some are actual screenshots, others are renders of a few NPCs, Geralt, and one of the monsters we’ll encounter. The last set is landscape concept art.
CD Projekt RED Won’t Deny or Confirm Witcher 3 on Xbox One
CD Projekt RED is being silent on whether or not The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be arriving on Xbox One. The RPG is currently slated for a release on PS4 and PC.
Studio managing director Adam Badowski told GameSpot, “We will shed more light on [The Witcher 3] during E3. I’m sorry but I can’t give you any details right now.”
When the game was officially announced, the PS4, PC and “all high-end platforms available” was stated. It would be weird if they didn’t target the Xbox One, then again, heavy DRM might keep them from it. More information will probably be available during E3 in June.
Lords of the Fallen Officially Announced
Lords of the Fallen has been officially announced by CI Games. The game has been slated for a release in 2014 to next-gen consoles and PC. The former senior producer of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, Tomasz Gop is leading the development.
The action-RPG is set in a world where gods have failed humankind. We take the role of a human named Harkyn. He sets out on a quest to stand against unstoppable supernatural forces. During the course of the game our choices will impact the game world and the characters.
A playable version of the game will be present during this year’s E3. The game’s official Facebook page can be found here.
Geralt from The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Statue
Geralt of Rivida from The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings statue
Apparently this statue of Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings showed up at CD Project RED‘s office the other day. Awesome!
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Screenshots
Screenshots from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been released. The upcoming game from CD Project RED is looking very, very neat.
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- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Screenshots
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Skips Out on DRM
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will not come with DRM. CD Project RED‘s game designer, Maciej Szczesnik, stated to Swedish gaming news site FZ.se, that hackers will crack the game regardless of whether or not it has any sort of DRM protection.
Adam Badowski added that it’s of course a bad thing, but since you can’t do anything to stop it, they want to give the players the best experience. Furthermore he stated that there were many fans who asked others to stop illegally download the game, because they didn’t use DRM.
CD Projekt RED Planning Two ‘Smaller’ Projects
CD Projekt RED is apparently planning two smaller projects.
Smaller is really subjective in this case, since Joystiq reports that each of these projects will be about 20 hours each. Or maybe they mean together, I have no idea.
Regardless, Joystiq posted a document which details the company’s plan to release, ”two smaller (playing time approximately 20 hours,) but chart-topping quality titles supporting one of the product lines.”
Additionally a mobile game will be created based on the unannounced games above. Since CD Project RED is fairly new in the development scene, they’ve not created a lot of games, so it can really be just two: Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher. Game Informer states the games will be released sometime before 2016.
The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings Launcher Issue & Fix
For some that have been installing the The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings Enhanced edition, you may have run into some issues starting the game from the launcher. It’s such a headache you want to throw the game out in the ocean, if you have one nearby.
First off, this is an issue I experienced and was able to fix. It may not be identical to the one you’re having, but it’s worth a shot.
Right off the bat I noticed that the launcher application stopped working. Annoying as hell, I can assure you. However, I soon realized it had to do with the .NET Framework 4. If you got up the error code ‘HRESULT: 0xc8000222‘ this is what you should do:
- Go to your computer’s start field (click the windows flag).
- Type: cmd. Just cmd, not anything else and don’t press enter.
- You’ll find that there’s a program called cmd. Right click it and “run as administrator“.
- Once there, write: net stop WuAuServ and press enter. (No need to shut this thing down, you need it later on.)
- Go to the run/start field again and type, or paste: %windir%
- Click on the folder called windows.
- Find the folder called ”SoftwareDistribution” and rename it as “SDold“. If you get prompted to replace anything, just go with it.
- Then go back to the cmd, type in: ”net start WuAuServ“
- Try to install .NET Framework 4.
I did this and it worked perfectly for me. I have no idea why CD Project RED hasn’t fixed the issue yet, since the game has been out for ages. If it against all odds do not work, click on computer in the start field and go to your hard drive. Navigate to the folder where you installed the game on and find the ‘bin’ folder (inside the game’s folder which should say The Witcher 2.) Just click the .exe file and it should work to start the game, it’s a cheap fix, but if not anything work, at least you can play the game.
Cyberpunk 2077 to Include Multiplayer Features
Cyberpunk 2077 will be including multiplayer features.
Eurogamer talked to the CD Project RED‘s managing director Adam Badowski.
”[Cyberpunk 2077] will be a story-based RPG experience with amazing single-player playthroughs, but we’re going to add multiplayer features.”
Badowski also spoke briefly about multiplayer in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, however, nothing has been confirmed.
The Witcher 3′s Main Story Arc is Over 50 Hours, May Import Previous Saves
The Witcher 3‘s main story “arc” is over 50 hours long, CD Project RED has confirmed. Furthermore, saves from the other two games may be imported.
Depending on your choices, you can visit a total of 36 states. These choices will also lead up to one of three possible epilogues.
The saves from previous games may be imported, it all depends on the technical difficulties the company faces with the development to consoles, such as Xbox 360, PS4, etc.
Sony Updates European PS4 Partners List
Sony posted the wrong list regarding European PS4 partners last week. An update version of the list was released by JoyStiq. The full list and the previous list can be found here.
- Avalanche Studios
- Blitz Games Studios
- Bohemia Interactive
- CD Projekt RED
- Climax Studios
- Hello Games
- Just Add Water (Developments), Ltd.
- Deep Silver
- Lucid Games Ltd
- MercurySteam
- Ninja Theory Ltd
- Nixxes Software BV
- Paradox Interactive
- Rebellion
- Saber Interactive
- Creative Assembly
- IO Interactive
- Starbreeze Studios
- 2K Games
- Team 17 Digital LTD
- Yager
- Zen Studios
- keen games
- Splash Damage
- Stainless Games Ltd
- Sumo Digital
- Codemasters
- TT Games
CD Project RED Talks About The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s Open World
CD Project RED recently talked about the open world of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and how they managed to create it.
Many concerns were raised when it was revealed the game was going to be open world. Many felt like the upcoming game would lose its narrative to appeal to a wider mass, however, that is not the case, should we believe the developers. In the video they also discuss what they learned from games such as Skyrim, Fallout: New Vegas, and Assassin’s Creed 3.
And to be fair, they’ve never given us reason to doubt them before. To watch the video you need to head on over to Game Informer.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s Story Revealed
Game Informer has shared a video in which CD Project RED discusses the story of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Even though the trilogy’s end is coming around, the writers are expecting Wild Hunt’s story to be the best yet. In an interview conducted by Game Informer (click the link to watch it), we get to hear about where the game begins, and where “Geralt’s new perspective on life will bring him.“
The Witcher Series Sells 5 Million
The Witcher series have managed to sell 5 million during its lifetime.
The Xbox 360 version of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings contributed a lot to the amount of games sold.
“The Witcher 3 will be a crowning achievement for the RPG genre, but I am also proud to announce that the number of previous Witcher games sold has surpassed 5 million copies,” said Adam Kicinski, CEO of CD PROJEKT SA group. “This is great news, especially since the 2012 debuted console debut on the Xbox 360 contributed largely to this result, receiving great feedback from gamers and critics.”
The Witcher Franchise to Continue Beyond The Witcher 3
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the last part in the epic trilogy created by CD Project RED. It may not be the last entry in the series, though.
People recently asked CD Project RED’s studio manager Adam Badowski if the recently announced game would be the last. He said yes, but the statement was later on elaborated by the CEO of the studio, Adam Kicinski.
“This is the last part of the trilogy, in which there will be a great finale of the story. However, this doesn’t mean the end of franchise. Franchise will be continued.”
The upcoming standalone sequel has been detailed by various media outlets. We covered it as well.
The Witcher Games 50% Off Via Steam and GoG.com
In wake of the The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt announcement, CD Project RED has announced that the two preceding titles will be 50% off at both Steam and GoG.com.
Buy the games by following the links below:
Steam:
GoG.com:
The offer is limited for 3 days. Furthermore, the Xbox 360 version of The Witcher 2 will be sold for 29.99 USD/EUR or 19,99 GBP.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Announcement Trailer
The announcement trailer for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been released.
The trailer is just to make people aware of the upcoming standalone sequel, and the finale of Geralt’s story. A coverage will be held by Game Informer, but most of the details regarding the game has been released through NeoGAF. However, we’ve also posted a summary of the details here.
I can’t help it, I’m so excited I think I’m going to burst.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Announced and Detailed
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been announced. This new game is going to feature Geralt as usual, but this time around his memory is back. And he’s done fighting for others.
What’s more exciting is that the game will be open world. There will be no chapters, acts, or anything else that will make the game play pause. The game in itself will be very big, it will be 20 percent bigger than Skyrim, and 40 times larger than The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. It will take approximately 30-40 minutes to cross the land on horse, although you don’t need to do this manually for locations you’ve already discovered. For locations already discovered you can use fast travel. Although, you can of course walk across the land, or take a boat.
As previously stated, the game will allow you to cross the open landscape without any loading screens, much like what we found in Skyrim.
When you travel you can always see the points of interest. There will be many exploration possibilities such as exploring dark caves, embattled villages, decaying ruins, and more. There will also be certain mini-games in various locations, these will give you exclusive rewards should you complete/win them.
Apparently there will be three different narratives in the game, as posted by Gematsu:
- Lowest Level: Free-form activities such as crafting, monster slaying (which seems to be more extensive in the third iteration), and going on quests. (There are over 100 hours of hand-scripted quests. These include helping villages and engineering the succession of the Skellige kings. Though, I think the latter would apply to the Next Level.)
- Next Level: The political situation of the Nilfgaardian invasion is resolved through a core plot line for each area, including Skellige, Novigrad, and No Man’s Land.
- Final Level: Geralt’s main storyline, his search for his loved ones, and the chase of the Wild Hunt.
Choices will be made in this game, and even though the player may skip making a choice, that in itself will be counted as one.
Additionally, each land in The Witcher 3 will have their own storyline. Certain events in the main storyline may be “gates” for the state of the world. A village might be abandoned if Geralt does not help them. The weather will also have a bigger part this time around as it’s not just some clouds painted on a skybox. Apparently the weather is dynamic.
You can be attacked by any monster, creature or people. Enemies won’t scale to your level, though. The game will feature a completely new AI, and scripted boss scenes are a no-go.
The monsters you hunt will also be revamped. Information about these monsters can be found from either books or townspeople. The importance of potions and similar magical items have also been stressed. Furthermore, the monsters may boast different abilities depending on what hour of the day it is. The information you have collected is very much going to affect your capabilities of killing the monster. If you know about its weak points, you can manage to kill it within two strikes, as opposed to hitting it with everything you got.
Once the monster is defeated, it will drop loot which you cannot find anywhere else. This loot may be chemicals or crafting materials required to make unique potions, mutagens, and other forms of item crafting.
Geralt can also change his armor in a few ways. If you got the required skills and material, you can easily craft a new armor or enhance your already owned one. That being said, you can also find armor in the world. Each change will be noticeable in the world due to new cloth simulation tech. Furthermore the barber will stay in the third and final installment Although you cannot dye Geralt’s iconic hair.
The Witcher 3 will feature 96 combat animations, as opposed to The Witcher 2 which only had 20. Other changes involves a “weighing system” which allows the most dangerous enemy to always stay in frame. You can always block or dodge an attack even if you’re out of stamina. However, doing so will stagger you.
Mounted combat is apparently in the testing stages, and not a lot is known about whether or not they’ll make it into the final cut. Horses will of course be apart of the game as previously stated.
The inventory system is also going through an overhaul in the standalone sequel. The sequel will apparently not be connected to the other games. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will launch in 2014 to PC and “all high-end platforms available”.
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