Good Old Games to sell The Witcher 2

By Robert Purchese Published 18 November, 2010

UPDATE: pre-order now, pay later.

Update: CD Projekt has made the news official and there are a couple of extra points to make.

The first is that pre-ordering The Witcher 2 on GOG.com costs nothing. You won't have to pay until the game is available in May 2011 - there's even a 10 per cent discount on the price.

The second point is that The Witcher 2 on GOG.com gifts a free game from a choice of five: Gothic 2 Gold, Realms of Arkania 1+2, Realms of Arkania 3, Divine Divinity or Beyond Divinity.

Original story: Polish company CD Projekt will break the Good Old Games mould by selling The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings there next May, Eurogamer can exclusively reveal.

Until now, Good Old Games had focused on adapting retro titles for today's operating systems.

But sources have told us that on 17th May, The Witcher 2 will be found there. What's more, the gritty action RPG will be completely DRM-free.

The news is expected to be made official this evening at a CD Project press conference.

Good Old Games and The Witcher 2 are of course both made by CD Projekt. Perhaps convergence was inevitable.

The PC version of The Witcher 2 has been swaggering around for months, gaining followers and acclaim - it looks very good. But what's happened to our console adaptations? That's what we're hoping to find out at the press conference this evening. We've sent news editor Wesley Yin-Poole packing to Poland to find out.

CD Projekt brought The Witcher 2 to Eurogamer Expo 2010 in London at the start of October. We videoed The Witcher 2 presentation for you.

Witcher the features you like the most?

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.

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

You may also like...

Comments (39) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Paul_cz #1 1 year ago

    amazing news. Still, I will buy CE version first.
    I wonder when will Witcher 1 be there though. Eventhough I own its enhanced edition, I would buy it again.

    And DO SOMETHING ABOUT SPAMMERS (EG, not gog).

  • MadCaddy13 #2 1 year ago

    What does DRM mean?

  • Lexx87 #3 1 year ago

    'Digital Rights Management'.

    Like when you have to connect to the Internet to play certain games or it won't let you play. Can only install a game a set number of times etc.

    Basically it's something that hinders you when you purchase a game but doesn't exist if you pirate it.

    It works really really well as you can see.

  • Rack #4 1 year ago

    Day one purchase.

  • Dashnak #5 1 year ago

    Looking forward to Witcher 2... it'll be a tough choice for me between Steam and GoG though. I'll probably go with GoG unless steam offers any value added features (like cloud or achievements etc)

  • TheTingler #6 1 year ago

    "Our" Robert? "Our console adaptations?" Is Eurogamer a console-only club now then? Games don't count as real games until they're not just on PC?

    As for the news itself, I always thought it was weird that they didn't have The Witcher on GOG. It'll be even more weird when the sequel goes on! Although it sort of defeats the point of the 'Old' part, I can let it go, it's a good service.

  • Raiten #7 1 year ago

    good news for us gamers to have drm hassle free gaming experience, regardless of that this was going to be a day one purchase for me, since witcher 1 allready was one of the best western rpg's i've played in ages.

  • uknortherner2000 #8 1 year ago

    Awesome news! Definitely on my "to buy" list now.

  • arcam #9 1 year ago

    I think only Steam has more credibility and trust among PC Gamers, and that goes a long way if you're running a digital download store.

    If GoG start selling new PC games regularly (and Wow! All without DRM? Too much to hope for I guess), they could be a real success. I'l be getting my copy of the Witcher 2 from there for sure.

  • dingo75 #10 1 year ago

    We've sent news editor Wesley Yin-Poole packing to Poland

    Ah come on that's a bit harsh isn't it?
    Sure some of his news were pretty bad but still...

  • Luk333 #11 1 year ago

    I presume they won't sell it for $5.99 or $9.99. :) I wonder if this also means that new price tiers will appear for more recent games.

  • Lexx87 #12 1 year ago

    Lol at dingo :)

  • apoc_reg #13 1 year ago

    Now this is awesome... but surely outside their remit?!

  • Eldritch #14 1 year ago

    I fully expect them to start selling the first Witcher for $9.99 at the launch of The Witcher 2.

  • bad09 #15 1 year ago

    A PC title with no silly DRM to restrict and annoy paying customers to the point they feel stupid for paying their way? What a odd thing to do in the games industry today, someone should tell them to get more sales they supposedly need to tie those paying suckers down and treat them like scum.

    In all seriousness though, good work and even though I still haven't got the 1st yet you have at least one guaranteed sale here CD Projekt for your clearly outstanding commitent to CUSTOMERS needs and not treating them as unimportant collateral damage in the chase for sales that aren't there. If only others in this industry had your knack of actually giving a shit about the people you get money from.

    / glares at Ubiscum

  • arcam #16 1 year ago

    you have at least one guaranteed sale here CD Projekt for your clearly outstanding commitent to CUSTOMERS needs and not treating them as unimportant collateral damage in the chase for sales that aren't there.

    Bolding and repeating because a +1 just isn't enough.

  • Seoh #17 1 year ago

    Bravo, although i may end up getting the collectors edition since the first witcher collectors edition is one of my faves.

  • Kismet. #18 1 year ago

    gog.com is, in my eyes, digital delivery done right, so I'm more than happy to hear I'll be able to buy The Witcher 2 over there (especially with the Collector's edition going for $129.99: hopefully all the goodies I'm interested in will be in the gog.com "normal" version too).
    Edited by 1 at 18/11/10 @ 13:42

  • GamesConnoisseur #19 1 year ago

    Massive fan of GoG reselling old games and repackaged with new Window compatiblity and DRM free, which I installed games onto multi PC and laptops, then just take USB stick for save games.

    Works like a dream, of course pirated games would do the job but I m no fan of doing anything that reduces games industry's ability to produce the next big thing.

    Single person is a tiny drop, but just takes enough of us to reduce or obliterate the industry, and darn the GoG games are sold at a reasonable price.

  • jonfon #20 1 year ago

    Erk, GoG or Steam? Actually given that CD Projekt own both (which I didn't know) and I love the GoG website there's no contest really.

  • sneetch #21 1 year ago

    @arcam
    Bolding and repeating because a +1 just isn't enough.

    Indeed, I'll be either buying the collectors edition or on Steam/GoG as they get a larger cut out of digital sales (I believe) they really deserve it.

  • Eldritch #22 1 year ago

    "GoG or Steam? Actually given that CD Projekt own both (which I didn't know)"

    Er, no?

  • bad09 #23 1 year ago

    @ jonfon

    Valve own Steam, I didn't know CDP own GOG though.

    No wonder GOG got the witcher 2 DRM free. If more new retail went DRM free through GOG I'd drop steam and it's iffy offline mode in a heartbeat.

  • borkedconsole #24 1 year ago

    Yes! This is how Digital downloads are done, with no DRM, no phone-home clients, no remotely activated poop. Are you listening, Gabe Newell? Everyone get the Witcher 2 from GoG, not from Steam.
    Edited by 1 at 18/11/10 @ 16:38

  • udat #25 1 year ago

    I'll get this just to support this level of awesome. The fact that the first Witcher game was great and therefore this one hopefully will be too is like icing on the cake.

  • borkedconsole #26 1 year ago

    Do buy it to support them, and to support games that are not arcade soldier FPS borefests like Call of Duty.

  • WickedDeeJ #27 1 year ago

    "Where's our console version?"

    It's not enough that BioWare's caved and turned Dragon Age 2 into a Fable-clone? No, you want The Witcher as well. No, I say. This is ours! (PC gamers')

  • borkedconsole #28 1 year ago

    I find interesting and somewhat stupid that the Witcher 2 CE can be pre-ordered from Steam and from GoG. So it's for both gamers that want to in fact own a completely drm free, proper game, and those that want to rent some parking space from Valve's network for some hours a day.

  • hiddenranbir #29 1 year ago

    God bless GoG and a pox on those wanting Steam to gobble up everything and become the single digital distributor. Not just any pox, but BIG pox.


    Check out their pre-order page; [link url=http://www.g og.com/en/page/tw2_preorder/
    ]http://www.g og.com/en/page/tw2_preorder/
    [/link]

    Not just goodies, but they ACKNOWLEDGE the price differences between countries and will CREDIT you the difference. Sorry Steam but GoG know how to please me.
    Edited by 1 at 18/11/10 @ 18:35

  • MrMud #30 1 year ago

    Selling a completely new game on an online store without any DRM is really ballsy.

  • Paul_cz #31 1 year ago

    They actually have balls of steel though.

  • BorkWork #32 1 year ago

    On steam it says Nov. 2010. they are selling it with 10% cut on price.

    The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Digital Premium Edition

  • hiddenranbir #33 1 year ago

    They're 10% off price is same as GoG's, I believe.

  • dacicus #34 1 year ago

    I don't think that Steam adds an old classic game for free in the formula ( see: you get to choose on GOG from Divine Divinity, Beyond Divinity, Gothic 2 Gold, Realms of Arkania 1+2 and Relams of Arkania 3). Sorry, but GOG wins this round. I don't care3 about achievements, nor cloud. But DRM free? Whatever you say, Steam it's not DRM free. So GOG wins in any respect.

    Hopefully, people out there will respect CD Projekt decision to release Witcher 2 without any DRM and will buy the game, thus permitting to see more titles in the future from the mentioned company.

  • Matthew_Hornet #35 1 year ago

    What has happened to Witcher 2 for consoles, right Robert? On that note, where's that Heavy Rain for PC? Also that Gears of War 2 for PC? Also that Vanquish for PC? Also that...

    Sometimes games don't come out on the platform you'd like them to. It happens.

  • FooAtari #36 1 year ago

    I'll be buying this purely to show support for releasing a game DRM free! Better be good :)

  • arcam #37 1 year ago

    I don't think that Steam adds an old classic game for free in the formula

    Also, GoG will give you $6 credit to make up for the US/UK price difference. $16 if you buy in euros.

  • hiddenranbir #38 1 year ago

    The "cloud" is rather rubbish atm.

    Keyboard settings? Save files?

    When I think of the "cloud" I'm thinking of harnessing the processing power of thousands of computers from around the world, like SETI@Home. Think of the kind of AI or something that could power? That's the cloud we should be getting wet over, not the ability to store a 57kb file over the internet.

  • borkedconsole #39 1 year ago

    I want a clear sky, without any clouds. :)