CD Projekt Red has repeatedly sought author Andrzej Sapkowski in the development of The Witcher 1, but what did they get?
In this article, I want to tell you about the problems that CD Projekt Red encountered in the search for the cooperation of author Andrzej Sapkowski to develop The Witcher 1.
Trouble with Andrzej Sapkowski
In 2014, Andrzej Sapkowski, author of the novel The Witcher, once said that the game’s visuals might overwhelm him, but didn’t know what else to say about it because he knew nothing about the game. That’s almost the most positive message that Andrzej talks about CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher titles. In addition to providing the world background and characters for the game, Andrzej Sapkowski has almost no impact. He doesn’t like the game on game content, not because the CD Projekt Red doesn’t want it. “I’ve never played a game since the Atari era with chocolate bar tapes, and everyone is addicted to them,” he said.
Andrzej Sapkowski (right) in an interview about The Witcher.
Maciej Miasik, production director of CD Projekt Red in 2005 when The Witcher 1 was still in development, said the development team wanted to be helped by Andrzej. We already know that the writer asked for more money in 2018, and it was not until the end of 2019 that CD Projekt Red and Andrzej were reconciled with an undisclosed agreement, but by the time the game was not released, Andrzej completely abandoned the CD. Red Projekt and games.
“Sold out, don’t care.”
Ryszard Chojnowski, the project leader of The Witcher in 2003-2004, recalled that he initially wrote two or three emails to Andrzej Sapkowski to inquire about the novel’s content to recreate them in the game. Among them are some questions about the characters or the meaning of their names, or whether Andrzej wants to see the game script to confirm how CD Projekt Red uses the surfaces properly. Still, Ryszard’s response was, “I don’t care. It’s not my business anymore.” Designer Artur said he was not surprised by these answers, as the contract between the two parties was too clear, and added that there might be times when CD Projekt Red asked for advice later, they also spent More money for Andrzej.
One of the biggest problems that CD Projekt Red faces when making The Witcher is the land’s geographical location in the game. Artur said that because this is a game, not a novel, they will need a map for gamers to imagine where they are in the world of The Witcher. A studio employee, Karol Kowalczyk, created the first map based on scraps of information gathered from the novel. Still, it was not complete because Andrzej’s way of describing the world in the game was inconsistent and accurate. So, CD Projekt Red sent Andrzej a letter containing many place names to ask if they were suitable for the game’s world, and received answers with mocking and scolding words.
“Those are very reasonable responses, we have changed the place names according to his answers, but we also want to get angry,” Artur said. So CD Projekt Red cut a few sentences from Andrzej’s reply to the content of the report you found in Kikimore’s cave at the end of Act 3 of The Witcher 1. You can read the letter in English here. “We are quite proud of this,” Mr. Artur revealed.
The map of the world The Witcher was created by the imagination of CD Projekt Red.
From the outsider’s side
Krzysztof Gonciarz, a reporter for GryOnline.pl (Poland), shared his experience with Andrzej Sapkowski when sending an interview question to him just before The Witcher 1 was launched. Those questions revolved around the developer, whether he had met them or not. “All questions are answered in exactly one sentence and seem angry, critical. In response, “have you met the gaming team,” he wrote, “I went there, met some people, I don’t remember.” Krzysztof said that GryOnline decided not to publish this interview because they did not want to “stab the back” CD Projekt Red when the game was not yet released. However, it could be beautiful to view when Andrzej criticized the game for peeing his theory.
And from the insiders.
You probably didn’t know: Andrzej Sapkowski once sold the rights to make The Witcher to another studio before CD Projekt Red. Metropolis Software, a Polish studio founded in 1992 and authored many hot games such as Teenagent, Blaster !, The Prince, and the Coward, Jacek Komuda, one of the scriptwriters. The Witcher’s original says that if Metropolis came to him to buy the game novel’s rights, he would agree to sell but would not accept the%. “I will never accept any% contract because the company looks tiny, I don’t even believe they can complete the project. I also want cash immediately, instead of% of game sales. ”
“It’s not like we took his brainchild and destroyed it to the point of making him angry. They (the game team) really wanted to recreate what Andrzej wrote in a fascinating adaptation of the original. There was a time when they took the initiative to seek his help, ” Mr. Maciej said. “I remember at least one or two times he went to the studio, his face frowned, as usual, looking at the project and reacting positively. Not too exciting, but at least positive. Nodding in acceptance, like that, but I don’t think he believes it will become something significant. ” Even so, CD Projekt Red is still determined to do its best to create a compelling game. Andrzej Sapkowski himself confirmed this: “Even if they asked me to (write the script), I would say no.”
Mr. Ryszard Chojnowski, CDPR project leader of The Witcher in 2003-2004
Mr. Ryszard said that he considered Andrzej to be the best author in Poland and made the mistake of not being interested in the game. “This mistake is obvious when you consider that most people know The Witcher through games, not books. And one situation that I hope will not happen is that if another Witcher novel is released – I think it will be available sometime – it will be mistaken for fan fiction. I’m afraid people may misunderstand that The Witcher game is “original,” and the novel is a follow-up. “ I dimly remembered that this happened a few years ago (or maybe not), but now CD Projekt Red has convinced Andrzej to work with me, and The Witcher movie has also made a big deal, so perhaps it will never happen again. However, by the time I made this article, all The Witcher titles have been completed without Andrzej Sapkowski’s support, so you can find many differences when comparing the novel with the game.
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