With pressure mounting on CD Projekt Red to release another smash-hit Witcher game, joint CEO Michał Nowakowski has spoken in an interview about the studio’s approach to development of The Witcher 4.
Speaking to The Game Business (via Eurogamer), Nowakowski assured fans that financial limits are not dictating the scope of The Witcher 4, despite trying to avoid spiraling costs. He said: “We are cost-conscious... But the first thing is whether the quality we're meeting is there, period.” The studio is also keeping in mind “whether we're meeting the expectations of what the fans are expecting from the next installment of The Witcher” at every turn of the game’s development.
Nowakowski later compared the rationale of developing an AAA title—lengthy, expensive, labor-intensive—and said the game maker’s approach will dictate how successful or cutting-edge the end product will be. Mentioning GTA 6 as a comparison point, he told the outlet: “If you want to have a cost-driven development... you cannot make a game like The Witcher 4. I doubt if the development of GTA 6 was a cost-driven development. In fact, I'm 100% sure it wasn't.”
If you want to have a cost-driven development... you cannot make a game like The Witcher 4. I doubt if the development of GTA 6 was a cost-driven development.
Interest in the Witcher series is sure to peak later this month when a new remastered version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is gifted to game owners for free. The update will bring improved visuals, streamlined fighting and inventory systems, as well as plenty of quality-of-life updates to bring the game up to par on modern consoles.
Also on CD Projekt Red’s slate of releases is a new DLC expansion for The Witcher 3, releasing more than 10 years after the original game launched in 2015. Titled Songs of the Past, the expansion had a strong showing at the recent Gamescom in Cologne and has brought plenty of buzz back to the franchise. It will offer around 20 hours of new gameplay and visit the region of Letten, a seemingly peaceful new region in northern Redania, where Geralt must unearth dark family secrets and face supernatural horrors.
Speaking on the DLC, Nowakowski said the team had never considered returning to The Witcher 3 but a “couple of happy accidents” led them there. A collaboration with Fool’s Theory, a Polish development studio made up of many former CDPR staff, was the primary catalyst for revisiting Geralt’s story and expanding it with long-shelved ideas.
Sales are of course on Nowakowski’s mind too, with a strong desire to see The Witcher 4 drive strong growth for CD Projekt Red after the rocky launch of their previous flagship title, Cyberpunk 2077. “Rocky” is perhaps the understatement of the century.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.dualshockers.com/cdpr-ceo-says-the-first-thing-is-quality-as-he-compares-the-witcher-4-to-gta-6/
