I didn’t think I could love CD Projekt Red more than I already do, but time and again, the studio hastens to prove me wrong. Back in 2016, CD Projekt Red released The Witcher 3, which is still my favorite video game of all time. And soon after, a slew of FREE DLC that has made the already exceptional experience even richer. Now, in the heat of production of their next masterpiece, Cyberpunk 2077, the studio shamed greedy studios and the current pervasion of loot boxes.
In an interview with PC gamer, CD Projekt Red co-founder Marcin Iwinski did not prevaricate on the topic of seedy development schemes in the video game world.
“In our case it was always 50-60+ hours of the main story-line, with up to a couple of hundred of hours of side activities, if you really wanted to max out the title. To me, this is a fair deal. You get what you paid for, plus we are always trying our best to over deliver. There is no better PR than a happy gamer recommending your title to their friends. The moment they feel you are reaching out for their wallet in any unfair way, they will be vocal about it. And frankly speaking, I think it’s good for the industry. Decision makers often aren’t asking themselves the question of ‘How would gamers feel, or is this offer a fair one?’
This statement is made all the spicier in consideration of EA’s disastrous blunder late last year with Star Wars Battlefront 2, a game that was supposed to be a token of contrition for its precursor, Star Wars: Battlefront. Sadly, both games, though admittedly less so in the sequel, were shameless unfinished cash grabs. The Witcher 3’s financial success owes itself to the merits of the game and not the business acumen of the developers.
“If you buy a full priced game, you should get a big, polished piece of content,”
Well said, Iwinski, well said.
