Console Witcher 2 now just a "potential"

By Robert Purchese Published 20 October, 2010

"Not likely" to be simultaneous with PC.

Fans hoping to play the console version of The Witcher 2 - announced alongside the PC game last year - were dealt a blow today after CD Projekt described it as merely a "potential" release.

Even if the console version does come to fruition, it's "not likely" to launch alongside the pillar PC game.

"All I can say for now is that it's not likely for any POTENTIAL [sic] console release to be simultaneous [with the PC game]," senior producer Tomasz Gop told Eurogamer this morning.

He then apologised for being able to offer only a "no comment" on the console game's current status.

CD Projekt's continued reluctance to show The Witcher 2 on console - or even confirm which platforms it's on - has lead to speculation of its existence. In May this year, CD Projekt had to jump to the defence of the project on Twitter: "CD Projekt always wanted and still plans to develop The Witcher 2 on consoles - nothing has changed," the company promised.

CD Project dumped previous console game The Witcher: White Wolf - an adaptation of The Witcher 1 - due to funding issues.

Luckily, there's a silver lining: The Witcher 2 on PC, which is shaping up to be something special. And it is absolutely still on track for a March 2011 release, Gop reiterated.

As for a demo, Gop couldn't say. There's nothing "confirmed" so far.

The Witcher 2 on PC has a new engine that CD Projekt can't stop boasting about. But it's story the developer believes is the RPG sequel's "ultimate feature".

Eurogamer chatted with Tomasz Gop earlier this month about The Witcher 2 ahead of his Eurogamer Expo 2010 presentation.

The breast way to break out of jail.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (26) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Machetazo #1 2 years ago

    oh, ffs. Not again!
    I'm not following this, anymore. Not until they decide what they're doing with The Witcher. In short, use the facilities or vacate the throne, CDP.

  • siro #2 2 years ago

    Likely story behind it:
    They probably saw how badly many of the other European RPGs did on consoles, in terms of both quality and sales, and then they were struggling to get it run well themselves and to find a publisher for the game. Publisher commitment likely being the key.

  • Evolution #3 2 years ago

    Or maybe they want to finish the PC version first before using resources on making console versions? Even when they showed the game off at gamescom they said they were still working on some of the ingame systems (like combat).

  • Darren #4 2 years ago

    The current crop of consoles are not really ideally suited to PC RPGs anyway IMO. Many of them require beefy PCs to run and keyboard and mouse controls are a far easier way to play them when you're trying to juggle dozens of inventory items. The few PC ported RPGs I've tried on the 360 have just felt horribly clunky and technically shonky, making even mediocre games feel even worst (Two Worlds and Risen I'm looking at you!).

  • geeza2020 #5 2 years ago

    Well I enjoyed Dragon Age Origins on 360, even though it was technically inferior to the PC version. Obviously the game is better with a keyboard and mouse, but that doesn't mean that a playing it with a pad is impossible. Anyway, I'm disappointed with this, I've heard good things about the witcher and was quite looking forward to playing this on my 360 :(

  • ZizouFC #6 2 years ago

    They clearly don't like money then.

  • Lord_Gremlin #7 2 years ago

    They really suck at optimizing games. Look at Witcher 1. They simply can't make a game that will pass any quality control.

  • peak_performance #8 2 years ago

    I thought The Witcher 2 was always a "maybe" for consoles already, must have remembered that wrong. Anyway the PC version looks ace, will buy.

  • Vlad27145 #9 2 years ago

    I can understand why they're boasting about the engine. OK, it looks more or less on par with Crysis and Warhead, with some tesselation added, which isn't that impressive considering CryEngine2 is 3y old. Then again, nobody managed to equal that until now, if not Crytek themselves and possibly iD Software. And it would clearly help if they can make it run a bit smoother than the CE2 titles...
    Whatever, this only matters from an enthusiast's point of view, what's important is that it looks tons better than the modded Aurora Engine they used for the first title. Loving the animations and lighting!
    Back on topic, pity if they don't get it on consoles, The Witcher (Enhanced Edition at least) was absolutely fabulous. I'm sure they'll do their best though, the comment about them not liking money was clearly just made out of resentment, it's obvious BS.

  • ic4ruz #10 2 years ago

    Why do journalists ALWAYS ask "but is there a console version ?" when its a PC game, but when the game is only on console I NEVER see "but is there going to be a PC version ?"

    And it's not like PC gamers get that many exclusives, keep it PC please.
    Edited by ic4ruz at 20/10/10 @ 15:12

  • subedii #11 2 years ago

    Good GRIEF, why do people insist on attributing these decisions to some crazy ideas of avarice, sloth, pride, or some other named capital vice?

    Look, it's simple. Small dev team. Limited resources. Focus on what you're most capable of achieving right now and then evaluate the possibility of getting a port out later, pending a successful release and solid sales (which is never guaranteed).

    If the PC version of Witcher 2 does well, there's no real reason not to port it to the consoles, but there is no such thing as a dev team with unlimited time and resources (George Broussard pretty much proved that one). So instead of focussing on making a worse game but for all platforms, they're focussing on their core platform first, the one they're already established on. The reason Rise of the White Wolf was canned wasn't because they "hate" money or "hate" the consoles, it was because they didn't have the resources available to make the project a reality (at least not without sacrificing other projects).

    You have to remember, to a large extent these guys are also competing with Bioware and their Dragon Age franchise. They need to make sure this is a really solid title, they don't have the resources of EA backing them up. Witcher 1 largely sold through word of mouth (it cracked 1.5 million units, but that was only after years of continuous low level sales), it certainly never had the budget of the EA "Marilyn Manson" marketing department.

    Heck, look at Vanquish. Initially a PC game as well, it switched early on to be a PS3 lead title and the possibility of a PC release is unconfirmed at this point, and may in fact never happen. Shinji Mikami's comments on the matter were pretty much that they simply weren't thinking about it, the focus had to be on delivering a really solid title to the PS3 first. Which is reasonable. At this stage, though I might like to see a Vanquish port on the PC, I doubt that's going to happen, but who knows.
    Edited by subedii at 20/10/10 @ 15:25

  • IronCladChicken #12 2 years ago

    @geeza2020
    Dragon Age was designed as a console title - With a higher spec PC version created alongside.
    I'm guessing the Witcher is designed as a PC title - Porting to a console must be harder?

  • TadejVig #13 2 years ago

    Well, finally a game which we get first and is later ported to consoles. PC exclusives are the best, I just think PC games are more polished and better to play in general, from the whole interface to controls and graphics, and of course PC games can be more complex as PC gamers are usually a more mature crowd then console gamers (I said usually, don't flame me).

  • peak_performance #14 2 years ago

    Don't know about more polished, that's usually something the consoles have locked down. Except for Blizzard games. Even so PC remains my favorite platform, still going strong since 1995.

  • koji_m #15 2 years ago

    I wouldn't get my hopes up for that console version, they sad exactly the same thing about The Witcher 1. Picking it for PC anyway so it doesn't really matter for me.

  • geeza2020 #16 2 years ago

    Tadejvig - ummm, yes I think "usually" is definitely the word. From my memories as a PC gamer, the WoW community, and the Counter-strike community was full of just as many immature dickheads as COD games are on consoles.

  • miiiguel #17 2 years ago

    Gothic 4 review please.

  • asphaltcowboy #18 2 years ago

    FFS CD Projekt!

  • kangarootoo #19 2 years ago

    I'm gutted, but subedii speaks the truth. Its not viable for them right now, and in the long term it will be for the best.

  • Markusdragon #20 2 years ago

    Boo. Hiss.

    I should really get into proper PC gaming one of these days.

  • Seehuusen #21 2 years ago

    Dragon age 2 and the witcher 2 the same month, woot, it's even worse than fable 3 and fallout new vegas the same month, can't they spread out more....thank god i got enough money for all 4 of them

  • kalinichenko #22 2 years ago

    +1 ic4ruz

  • hiddenranbir #23 2 years ago

    Hell yeah!

    Finally a game where the console is sacrificed for the sake of PC awesomeness!

  • Captain_Beardface #24 2 years ago

    @IronCladChicken

    Dragon Age primarily a console title? Sounds doubtful to be, seeing how much better the PC version is.

  • Xardan #25 2 years ago

    No console version means no buy. Not really bothered actually as dragon age 2 might actually be good.

  • apoc_reg #26 2 years ago

    This looks great... no doubt it'll get a 4/10 from Eurogamer :-)

    Ha but not this is literally at the top of my most wanted!