The Witcher 2: We're not afraid of Dragon Age

Senior producer Tomasz Gop on creating a PC-exclusive fantasy.

Last week Polish publisher/developer CD Projekt held a press conference in a trendy Warsaw club to reveal the innards of the Collector's Edition and Premium Edition of upcoming fantasy role-playing game The Witcher 2: Assassin's of Kings. Eurogamer was there to bear witness to the amazing scenes.

Senior producer Tomasz Gop took to the stage to announce various DLC-related pre-order bonuses CD Projekt's signed on the dotted line with UK shops. Most interesting of the lot? If you buy the game from CD Projekt's own digital shop, GOG.com, you'll get a DRM-free version of the game.

After his star turn Eurogamer cornered Gop to get the latest news on the mature, PC-exclusive role-player, and quizzed him on everything from the game's recently announced delay to the looming threat of BioWare's Dragon Age II.

Eurogamer: You've revealed the Collector's Edition and the Premium Edition of the game, and listed a raft of UK retailers that will stock them. But will they game be sold in UK shops as boxed products?

Tomasz Gop: Yes. The retailers that were listed in the presentation were for retail only. Most of them have both Premium and Collector's.

Eurogamer: So, you'll be able to walk into HMV and buy the Collector's Edition or the Premium Edition?

Tomasz Gop: From what I know it will be in stock.

Eurogamer: In the UK and US boxed PC games don't sell as well as console games.

Tomasz Gop: It depends on the market, but that's probably the case in the UK.

Eurogamer: A lot of people talk about the death of boxed PC games.

Tomasz Gop: That's why we have a digital Premium version.

Eurogamer: What's caused this decline? Is it piracy?

Tomasz Gop: There are a lot of theories. Some say it's the market going casual. Console games, it's not a rule, but they tend to be more casual than PC games.

Other people say, well, PC games are more difficult. Some say a lot of people have consoles right now – previously they were not as prevalent. There are a lot of theories.

What do I think? Even if it is declining it won't die. It'll never die. What's the reason? I don't know if I have an opinion on that. I have both PC and consoles and I'm playing both of these. I don't see myself ever turning down any of these platforms. Gosh, I really don't know why it's decreasing in certain territories.

Eurogamer: In Poland and Germany boxed PC games are still very strong. If you go into a shop there are more PC games on sale than console sales.

Tomasz Gop: It depends. Right now it's getting towards somewhat of an equal. Slowly it is.

Eurogamer: You're making downloadable content exclusive to retailers. That drives gamers up the wall. What do you say to that?

Tomasz Gop: There are two things. The first one is these are not huge campaigns. These are extra suits for Geralt or extra finisher combos or an NPC. They're listed on each retailer that sells them.

It's not like you lose a major part of the game. It's a distinction – visual most of the time. It's just a cool feature.

Secondly, it's something to give retailers. They like to have unique offerings. This is all we could do to make sure people won't be too angry, but at the same time make sure retailers are happy to sell our game because they have something only they have.

Eurogamer: You recently announced a delay to the launch of the game – it slipped from the first quarter of 2011 to May. Why was it delayed?

Tomasz Gop: You might have noticed that we are cautious. We had been saying Q1 – it wasn't a set date. It was one of the things we did to make sure that even if we slipped we didn't do so by three or four months.

Second, it's polishing the game. If we want to think about standing above the competition we just want to take extra time to polish the game. This is the main reason we're moving the game outside of Q1.

Eurogamer: You mention the competition. Is Dragon Age II The Witcher 2's biggest competitor?

Tomasz Gop: They are similar games in a way. It is competition, but we're not thinking that they're going to kill us, or wipe us out with their marketing.

We're thinking, if people like role-playing games they will buy all of them because you get two or three role-playing games a year – triple-A ones. OK, yes, they are competition, but if one competitor wiped out another one, it would mean a 30 per cent decrease in the role-playing game market. Who wants that? That's not good for anyone.

They are competition, but it's nothing we're afraid of.

Eurogamer: Dragon Age II will release in March. Typically, these games are huge, with hundreds of hours of content. Is your May release date in part because you wanted to give role-playing game fans time to finish Dragon Age II?

Tomasz Gop: It's a side effect. It wasn't the main factor of this decision. But it's not bad that we're not at the same time as Dragon Age II.

Eurogamer: Dragon Age II's combat is more action-driven than the first game's, and so is The Witcher 2's. Why are role-playing games becoming more action-orientated?

Tomasz Gop: You're right, but it's misleading for a lot of people. I can't say it's not true. It is true. Developers want to have more action in their games. Boring games are not good. It's not like you're changing the genre of the game. Role-playing games will not become shooters... I mean, Mass Effect was an exception. OK, we're not doing Mass Effect.

What I'm trying to say is a lot of things that were happening in role-playing games on a daily basis years ago are too hardcore right now. It's not like we're doing a completely different genre. This is what the role-playing game is right now.

The story is never dumbed down. Good role-playing games kept really good story, and you experience the story in an even deeper way than you would previously because of better graphics, direction and cut-scenes.

Combat is more spectacular. The means to express it is just to make it real-time. Previously combat was more turn-based. We don't have turn-based combat right now. It's a better means of expression.

Eurogamer: Why do gamers complain about dumbed-down role-playing games if modern designs are better?

Tomasz Gop: Have you played Demon's Souls?

Eurogamer: Yes. It's very hard.

Tomasz Gop: It is very hard. I've played through it twice – hundreds of hours of gameplay. I loved the game. That's why I can put myself in the place of these guys who complain. They're used to stuff not too many people are doing these days because they're putting hundreds of hours into single games.

To them, playing a game that has more dynamic and fluent combat is probably something against what they're used to, and they're probably screaming loudest.

Eurogamer: What's your honest assessment of the direction BioWare's taking Dragon Age II?

Tomasz Gop: Well, it doesn't look worse than the first one. So it doesn't look bad. I had an issue with the demo at gamescom. There was a lot of combat and not too much story. I would like to get deeper into story.

Until I know more about the story of Dragon Age II, I can't tell you more.

Eurogamer: The Witcher 2's combat reminds me of Batman: Arkham Asylum's.

Tomasz Gop: We have been inspired. I'm not hiding this. We have.

Eurogamer: What's happening with the console version? I want an honest answer.

Tomasz Gop: This is too difficult a question because I can't tell you directly what's happening inside the studio, but I want to tell you we're doing everything we can to make sure one day The Witcher 2 will be released on the current generation of consoles.

Eurogamer: So, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3?

Tomasz Gop: Yes. I can even tell you more. We already have performed a lot of tests. We're doing a reality check every half a year or so. We take a level from the game and we try to put it inside our engine, because it's console-capable on Xbox 360 and PS3.

Occasionally, from time to time, we do reality checks, and it's doable.

Eurogamer: What are the chances of a console version being released at the same time as the PC version?

Tomasz Gop: It's too late. We would have announced it already. It would be stupid not to announce it by now.

Eurogamer: If it does happen, will it be Christmas next year?

Tomasz Gop: Can't say. Probably by Christmas next year you will know way more.

Eurogamer: Do you need to be multiplatform to be successful with a single-player role-playing game?

Tomasz Gop: It's not only about ideology, but it's business wise. It's the only direction you can go, that's why we want to do it. We're not hiding it. Yes! This is a wise thing to do, and we will do it whenever we're able to.

Eurogamer: What's the problem? Why not develop a console version alongside the PC version?

Tomasz Gop: Three reasons: time, people and money. We have not released any console games yet. That's why we're approaching this topic with even more caution.

Eurogamer: If I'm new to The Witcher and unfamiliar with the lore and the universe, will I be able to get the most out of The Witcher 2, or do you recommend I play the first game first?

Tomasz Gop: One thing you could do is read the books. It's a really comfortable situation for us to work on a world that's not a generic one. Players don't even have to know it, because we're doing a game that will sell – we hope – everywhere, even in the markets where people don't know the books and don't know who Andrzej Sapkowski is.

So you don't have to know the books. It's a totally separate chapter not only from the books but also from the first game. There are connections but it's more like rewarding the players that have played the first game.

Tomasz Gop is senior producer at CD Projekt.

Comments (39) Latest comment 2 years ago

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

  • matrim83 #1 2 years ago

    Considering what we have seen of DA 2 so far I dont think the Witcher team has anything to worry about.
  • StolenGlory #2 2 years ago

    Agreed. In fact for my money, the recently released Divinity II: Dragon Knight Saga is a far more worthy foe for the Witcher II.
  • JayG #3 2 years ago

    Quite a bullying interview. Rarely hear this type of attitude with P3 or 360 exclusives.
  • matrim83 #4 2 years ago

    ^^ I wouldnt call that a bullying interview. Some direct interesting questions and some honest answers. Makes for a much better read than some Sony/MS PR shmuck regurgitating crap.
  • Spekingur #5 2 years ago

    Was this a translated interview? This seems to be very up-in-your-face interview/questions.

    You normally don't see it in other interviews, especially in those interviews where the interviewer should be. I like this attitude though. Do more. Ask the difficult questions.
  • YobRenoops #6 2 years ago

    Actually quite a crap interview. Too much focus on Dragon Age 2. It also feels like Wesley was shouting the questions out really quickly across a room!
  • Nephirion #7 2 years ago

    In truth its the creaking xbox 360 technology that is holding gaming back. PC hardware is far more powerful now that its console cousins, the fact remains that console sales drive the industry forward while the evolution is lead from PC hardware and programming techniques. The fact that the Witcher 2 is a PC excluisve is welcome, this gives the oppertunity to develop to the full potential of the PC and not to be held back by the hardware restrictions of cross platform development.
  • Ryuken #8 2 years ago

    Maybe the interviewer could have asked something new and detailed about the game itself instead of the eternal simplistic multiplatform, "does this competitor scare you?", "PC gaming is dead" and casual vs hardcore questions. Way too general stuff and as expected you got very predictable answers.

    Now we know just as much about the game as it was seen on GamesCom, if that's the goal of an interview about a game then I'll pass.
    Edited by Ryuken at 25/11/10 @ 10:41
  • arcam #9 2 years ago

    Last year I couldn't wait for Dragon Age, and The Witcher was a bit of an unknown quantity that maybe I should keep an eye on. This time it's the other way around.
  • anomagnus #10 2 years ago

    As always, and to be fair to the decaying EG its not just them, games journalism is unable to discuss a game, without putting it into oppistion with something else.

    Why so much focus on what a competitor is doing? As CD Project said, RPGs are hardly flooding the market. RPG fans will buy both DA and the Witcher.

    Even if we exclude the lack of games in the genre, the witcher and DA:o were two completely different games, that didnt even really share a game infrastructure, never mind a genre. The witcher was a tight, action paced story about a single person in a city, while DA was an over arching story set across a continent.

    But far be it for games journalists to notice the differences between the two games, or understand how scarce games are in the western rpg market, or the buying habits of RPG fans.

    Also, as for the bashing of DA2, specifically matrim83, what exactly have you seen of DA:2. An incorrect article on this site about dialogue choices? Or are you referring to the changes in the camera system? Becuase there is very little to say the game has been dumbed down, other than bioware taking an approach that makes the game sound more like the witcher.

    The irony is, DA:2 appears to be altering the game to be more like the wticher, by focusing on a specifc character, with a pre-defined background, and getting closer to the combat.

    But hey, the internet says DA2 is being dumbed down, ipso facto, DA2 is being dumbed down.

    Jesus, a terrible article, and the usally smattering of comments about DA2, that are baseless.
  • Yossarian #11 2 years ago

    An opportunity to interview the developers of one of the most anticipated role-playing games of 2011, and instead of questions about said role-playing game, we talk boring business and 'competition'.
  • galerian86 #12 2 years ago

    The questions oriented toward more general topic probably because the interviewer never played The Witcher.
  • chischis #13 2 years ago

    Fair play to Mr. Gop for the candid and direct, honest answers. Have to love that Polish attitude. Heck, that does more to convince me CDP are worth giving money to than the game itself.
  • spindoctor #14 2 years ago

    CD Projekt Red has nothing to be afraid of from Dragon Age 2. If anything, I would say EA should be afraid of The Witcher 2.
  • butler` #15 2 years ago

    I think The Witcher is overrated. I think the engine held it back. They clearly did well with what they had but it was a 7/10 game at best (particularly pre-enhanced edition).

    I'm very interested to see what they can do with their own engine and the videos do look very promising.
  • autolo #16 2 years ago

    I never really got into the first Witcher, I found it a good game that lacked a story (for me) with any emotional connection, though that might be becasue I havent read the books.
  • Seoh #17 2 years ago

    @stolenglory

    I second that, really enjoying divinity 2 (although at the end it does get a little buggy)
  • Creasy #18 2 years ago

    Why would they be afraid of DA?
    DA1 was awful, and DA2 looks even worse (played it at Gamescom).
    Witcher 2 is the first really great and big RPG since... ever? (or at least a decade)
  • autolo #19 2 years ago

    @Creasy

    At the same note, why would DA2 be worried about The Witcher 2? The first one didn't have a good thread to connect the story, the by far most interesting part was the forth act, that was like a big sidetrack escept for the end and some hints, and the combat wasn't all that good, although it felt much better in the enhanced edition, and you couldnt customize anythign about the main character, who all in all was pretty boring. That being said, this is pullign out the bad parts, I liked the first one, though not as much as DA, and am curious about the second one as well.
  • UncleLou #20 2 years ago

    I never really got into the first Witcher, I found it a good game that lacked a story (for me) with any emotional connection,

    It was just the opposite for me, I hardly care much for stories in RPGs, but in The Witcher I thought it was really, really strong. Not so much the main plot as such, but the little things, the intrigues, etc.

    As far as The Witcher 2 is concerned, the footage looks incredible. Easily the best-looking RPG I've seen.
  • autolo #21 2 years ago

    @UncleLou

    That just show how different we experience things, I still liked the game though (despite my previous postwich was more an answer to DA bashing here, I could do the same for that game). In the Witcher though, I never really found myself caring for any of the characters, and as I said, teh onew part of the story that grabbed me most was act 4.
  • shogo10 #22 2 years ago

    Hmm I come into an interview about the Wicther 2 and come out learning more about DA2 and how pc gaming is dead. Mission Accomplished EG.
  • Paul_cz #23 2 years ago

    I love it when people answering are honest no-nonsense guys with no bullshit.
    This was such interview. And yeah, RPGs, as the most complex and difficult genre, have to be supported.

    Which is why I bought New Vegas (already finished, 80 hours, amazing game) and yesterday I bought Divinity 2 DS. And Witcher is of course already preordered on gog and in its CE.
  • Frostbite #24 2 years ago

    Honestly, couldn't care less about the console release. Games like this are the reason I built my PC in the first place, and will continue to do so any chance I get. I don't buy the whole "They cost more" crap, as the humongous sales I have gotten on games (Red Faction Guerrilla for 5 bucks) alone pay the difference with how much I buy, not to mention no PC I have ever built has "broken" on me. I don't upgrade every 6 months either, been running the same old config for a year now and it's doing just fine @ 1920x in almost everything, bar Metro 2033. I'd get a console if they weren't spirit-sucking demons of the all mighty $ now, but that's too much to ask these days.

    Either way, lookin' forward to this and I hope my gamble pays off. I rarely look far forward to games these days.

    Edit: @ Serret

    I tend to agree as I know several of my friends that don't have a gaming-capable PC completely pirate everything on the Wii/360 and have never shelled out a cent for anything related to it other than the console itself.
    Edited by Frostbite at 25/11/10 @ 18:47
  • Scimarad #25 2 years ago

    I would definitely welcome a demo of this - I'm a bit concerned it may be too much for my aging PC.
  • ohcomeon #26 2 years ago

    Eurogamer: The Witcher 2's combat reminds me of Batman: Arkham Asylum's.
    Tomasz Gop: We have been inspired. I'm not hiding this. We have.

    Oh, wow. I really hope this is true. Wasn't really a fan of the first game's combat but loved pretty much everything else. Would've liked a little more elaboration on this though. Is there a recent EG hands-on I've missed?
  • hiddenranbir #27 2 years ago

    Witcher has nothing to worry about it. The first was miles above DA in terms of the feature they boast "choices and consequences" and as well as being mature; which funnily felt far more tasteful in Witcher.

    Maybe the fact DA2 has become where you play a set-character, something Witcher does, is telling; even though that is rather a nuisance for what made Bioware rpgs good was you could be you (well, aside from ME but I feel that is more of an action-adventure)
  • NegativeZero #28 2 years ago

    @Creasy: Dragon Age has sold many more copies and received much more critical acclaim than the first Witcher, actual merits of the two games aside. In the western RPG market, Bioware and Bethesda are probably the two biggest heavyweights. CD Projekt Red are a tiny but talented indepentdent developer from western europe.

    DA2 and The Witcher 2 are both sequels, both releasing around about the same time (March for DA2, May for tW2) and The Witcher 2 is absolutely and without doubt the underdog of the two. They share a lot of setting cues, they're both 'dark', 'mature' fantasy games, they both now have a fixed, well-defined protagonist, they both are revamping their combat systems... but Dragon Age is a multiplatform release by an established developer, a sequel to a multi-million selling game that is being published first, by EA, and with EA's enormous marketing leverage. Asking these guys about how they feel about their prospects against their biggest competitor is completely valid. If they're not trying to differentiate themselves from their competition then they're setting themselves up for failure.

    Personally I liked both The Witcher and Dragon Age and I'll be buying both games. I imagine a lot of western RPG fans will do the same. But they need to be making sure that as many of the people who only buy one of the two games as possible buy theirs, not Bioware's offering.
  • Devox #29 2 years ago

    The first Witcher was something of a Marmite game....the original version i thought was pretty poor. The translation was poor and the game engine was buggy and broken. But as the number of decent RPGs is very small at the moment i bought the updated version and quite frankly its like a different game. Props to the team for taking the time and effort to polish the game and give us a version that does their work justice. Just no more Porn Cards ok.
    I'll happily wait longer if the version that comes out is optimised and has a grasp of the english language.
  • subedii #30 2 years ago

    You know what would have been nice? If you'd flown all the way to Poland and asked about the freaking game itself.

    Grief. The entire interview was centred around this being a PC led release as if this gives the game cancer, followed by how their competition was doing.

    The most I got out of this was that the new combat mechanics are a bit reminiscent of Arkham Asylum? How so? Who knows, there was only one passing remark on the topic and the reviewer didn't elucidate further.

    I realise that there might be some disappointment that this isn't being made a simultaneous console release, but come on, that's been known for months now, and yet that's all the interview really focussed on.
  • kaya08 #31 2 years ago

    Awful questions, answered in an interesting way.
    Sounds good, i didn't pick up the original, despite thinking i should everytime i hear about it.
    Maybe i will now
  • Tuco #32 2 years ago

    Jesus Christ, this interview is fucking annoying.
    Half of the time the interviewer was pushing about the goddamn console version, which I really don't give a shit about.

    There are so few big PC exclusives these days and all you can do, speaking with their developers, is questioning about a console version?
    Give us a break, ffs.
    Edited by Tuco at 26/11/10 @ 07:45
  • apoc_reg #33 2 years ago

    I can just tell this is going to be the best game in years!
  • Nameless-001 #34 2 years ago

    Nice shitty interview...who cares about DA or a console version, in case you were wondering we're more interested in the goddamn game.
  • Fuz77 #35 2 years ago

    Fire that incompetent interviewer.
  • craziii #36 2 years ago

    I liked the first one, will be buying the 2nd one for sure. the recent video with 3 different ways of getting out of a dungeon was nice.
  • Kostas #37 2 years ago

    The first one was easily miles better than the first Dragon Age anyway. I do not believe that this will turn around any time soon for 2 very simple reasons.

    1. Dragon Age is just an RPG "lite" while The Witcher is "hardcore".
    2. Instead of stripping and dumping the game down, like Dragon Age seems to be doing, the Witcher is lavishly crafted with a lot of attention to detail.

    Not only that but CDPR is easily a "gamers" company unlike Bioware who now is no more than a nobody in a big, clinical and downright soulless money maker. Sure the "Mass Effect" games were good but this is only one franchise since the days of Neverwinter Nights.
  • RodHull #38 2 years ago

    Kneel Before Gop.
  • jools1980x #39 2 years ago

    "Eurogamer: Dragon Age II will release in March. Typically, these games are huge, with hundreds of hours of content."

    What games have they been playing? Dragon Age took about 20 hours to complete, and I mean listening to all the dialogue and exploring every conversation option and completing every side quest... Mass Effect 2 took even less, probably some 17 hours.

    Anyway, what's the point of asking so many question about a possible console release when the only confirmed version is the PC one? TBH I'm just glad this game isn't planned for consoles from the start, because that's mainly what made Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2 heaps of fanservice manure.

    So much more interesting stuff about the game itself could have been asked!
    Edited by jools1980x at 29/11/10 @ 15:21