The Witcher (video game series)

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The Witcher
Logo since 2015
Genre(s)	Dark fantasy Heroic fantasy High fantasy Role-playing Action role-playing Multiplayer online battle arena
Developer(s)	CD Projekt Red Fuero Games
Publisher(s)	Atari CD Projekt
Platform(s)	Xbox 360 Microsoft Windows OS X Linux Xbox One Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 Xbox Series X/S PlayStation 5
First release	The Witcher 26 October 2007
Latest release	Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales 23 October 2018

The Witcher is a series of fantasy action role-playing games developed by CD Projekt Red and published by CD Projekt. It is based on the book series of the same name by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski, acting as sequels to the story of the books.

The main series began in 2007 with the release of The Witcher, and concluded with 2015's The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. As of 2020, the series has three main standalone games, two expansion packs and three spin-off games. The series is critically acclaimed and commercially successful, selling over 50 million copies worldwide by May 2020.

Gameplay[]

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In the series, the player controls Geralt of Rivia, one of the few remaining witchers on the Continent. He is a traveling monster slayer for hire, mutated and trained from an early age to slay deadly beasts.

Releases[]

Main series[]

The Witcher[]

In 1996 and 1997, a Witcher video game was being developed by Metropolis Software in Poland, but it was canceled. The game's director was Adrian Chmielarz, former People Can Fly co-owner and creative director, who coined the translation "The Witcher" during its development. According to Chmielarz, the game would have been a 3D action-adventure game with role-playing elements such as moral choices and experience points.^[1]

In 2003, Polish video-game developer CD Projekt Red negotiated with Sapkowski for rights to The Witcher, given the languishing work at Metropolis,^[2] and released The Witcher, a role-playing game based on the saga in October 2007 for personal computers. It was well-publicized and, although it was the developer's first game, it received critical praise in Europe and North America. The Witcher was published in Poland by CD Projekt and worldwide by Atari. A console version, The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf with the same story and a different engine and combat system, was scheduled for release in fall 2009 but was canceled that spring.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings[]

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is the sequel to The Witcher, developed by CD Projekt Red. On 16 September 2009, before Assassins of Kings was introduced, a video of the game was leaked;^[3] two days later, CD Projekt Red confirmed that it was in development.^[4] Assassins of Kings was published in Poland by CD Projekt, by Namco Bandai Games in Europe and by Atari in North America. The game was also distributed digitally through Steam and DRM-free on Good Old Games.

The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt[]

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was released on 19 May 2015, and has become considered one of the greatest games of all time, shipping over ten million copies by March 2016.^[5] Subsequently two expansion packs were released, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Hearts of Stone in 2015 and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine in 2016.

Other games[]

The Witcher: Crimson Trail (Polish: Wiedźmin: Krwawy Szlak), also known as The Witcher Mobile, is a mobile-phone action game created by Breakpoint on license from CD Projekt in November 2007.^[6] It features a young Geralt as a promising student who has completed his training to become a monster-slayer – a witcher.

CD Projekt Red announced Battle Arena, a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena game for mobile devices, on 1 July 2014. It shut down at the end of 2015.^[7]

In October 2018, CD Projekt Red released Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales, a turn-based roleplaying game with similar gameplay to the free-to-play card game Gwent: The Witcher Card Game. In Thronebreaker's thirty-hour-long campaign, the player takes the control of Queen Meve, the ruler of Lyria and Rivia, during the events that precede the first Witcher game. The game world consists of five regions never explored in The Witcher franchise before: Rivia, Lyria, Angren, Mahakam and Lower Aedirn.^[8] The title received generally favorable reviews.^[9]

Reception[]

Promotional models dressed as Geralt and Triss at IgroMir 2010

Critical Response[]

The Witcher series has received generally positive reception from critics and audiences alike.

The Witcher received mostly positive reception from critics.^[17] Praise was given towards its narrative, branching dialogues, adult themes, setting, RPG elements, leveling and alchemy system, and Geralt's character, though the combat, animations, movement and loading times were criticized.^[18][19][20]

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings was deemed an improvement over its predecessor in terms of combat mechanics, customization, graphics, environments, immersion, and storytelling.^[21][22] The major source of critcisim was the difficulty of the combat, especially during the game's first few hours,^[23] and gratuitous nudity.^[24]

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt received universal acclaim from critics and audiences alike, and has been named one of the greatest video games of all time. Praise has been given for its gameplay, narrative, world design, combat, and visuals, although it received minor criticism due to technical issues.^[25][26][27]

Sales[]

The series had sold over 33 million copies by March 2018,^[28] increasing to over 50 million copies by May 2020.^[29]

Royalties Controversy[]

In October 2018, Sapkowski sent notice to CD Projekt demanding he be remunerated for sales of The Witcher video games, asking for more than 60 million Polish złoty (more than US$15 million) representing between about 5% and 15% of the game's revenues over the years. Sapkowski had originally provided the license to CD Projekt based on a lump sum payment, but now believes he is due more since the series has become much more successful than expected. CD Projekt stated that while they had met all obligations on the initial acquisition of the license, they will work amicably with Sapkowski's legal representatives to come to a fair outcome for all parties.^[30] By February 2019, CD Projekt worked out a settlement agreement that would provide Sapkowski additional royalties for their video game series, though not as great as those Sapkowski had asked for, as to maintain a working relationship with the author for future Witcher projects.^[31] The settlement was finalized by December 2019.^[32]

References[]