After Rockstar and Sony Controversies This Year, CD Projekt Red Just Saved the Day

CD Projekt Red made some serious waves at this year's Gamescom Opening Night Live by revealing that Witcher fans will be getting several huge freebies, and it's a breath of fresh air after a summer full of Rockstar and Sony controversies. Opening Night Live's finale featured multiple announcements from CD Projekt Red, with one of the biggest being the confirmation that The Witcher 3 is being remastered. A remaster is exciting enough, and CD Projekt Red could easily charge $50 for such a big overhaul, but the developer releasing it as a completely free upgrade is wonderfully mind-boggling.

The Witcher 3 remastered was the biggest one of these reveals, but CD Projekt Red took things a step further and hit the audience with a double dose of awesomeness through a second reveal. The Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine DLCs will also be free for those who own the game. Even if The Witcher games aren't your particular cup of tea, it's still a big surprise that such a major industry heavyweight is willing to give away so much free content. Frankly, the past few months being filled with less-than-stellar Rockstar and Sony news has left me pessimistic about the future of gaming, but CD Projekt Red's decision has been a much-needed ray of light.

Video games mean a lot to me. Like many other gamers out there, gaming has been a wonderful escape from the hectic moments in life, and it's also just a fantastic medium that is an absolute joy to spend hours with. Gaming combines tech and art into one beautiful package, and it's crazy to see how far the industry has come since I was a small kid playing Jak and Daxter and sitting way too close to the TV. Highs and lows are part of every industry, but the past few months have been particularly concerning.

GTA 6 has been on many gamers' minds for not months, but years. GTA is iconic, and the series has helped push the industry forward, but GTA 6 is a completely different beast. Rockstar's upcoming game has become a full-blown pop culture phenomenon, and the company has taken full advantage of that hype. However, that much anticipation has also inspired a few controversial marketing decisions to promote GTA 6's launch.

Keeping content exclusive to an Ultimate or Deluxe edition isn't anything new, but it's a solid amount of content. Granted, the extra in-game stores and cosmetics aren't actually anything that is essential to playing the game. The biggest controversy of all, though, has been the fact that GTA 6's physical version won't actually have a disc included in the box. Physical media ownership and game preservation have been hot topics lately, and GTA 6 forgoing a disc is bringing a lot of longtime game collectors' fears to life.

GTA 6's Netflix premiere has been another point of frustration. There are already plenty of jokes online about how Rockstar managed to hide a trailer behind a paywall. Netflix's exclusivity may not have been permanent, but it sets a worrying precedent. Other developers and publishers could follow suit. This method leaves some gamers feeling pressured into subscribing simply to see new game footage when trailers can easily be shared online with everyone in a far more egalitarian way.

Destiny 2 support ending was a big blow to that game's community, but the most controversial decision from the company this year has been the announcement that Sony is ending physical media production once 2028 hits. It's going to truly be an end of an era, and the effects are going to be wide-reaching. Secondhand game stores will be hit hard and eventually disappear, collectors will be forced out of a hobby they love, and Sony can simply shut down a game, even if you bought it.

Xbox isn't safe from my criticism, either. The summer Xbox layoffs did away with a lot of jobs, and it's always upsetting to see so many people affected.

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