CD Projekt explains 9GB Witcher 2 patch

By Robert Purchese Published 27 May, 2011

Will all updates be this big?

Eyeballs popped yesterday when owners of The Witcher 2 realised patch 1.1 on Steam was an enormous 9GB.

Why was it so big? Because the patch altered the entire 9GB Witcher 2 archive file, which Steam users were forced to re-download.

The actual 1.1 patch was only 15MB.

Will this be the case with all future Witcher 2 patches on Steam, including the planned 1.2 release next week?

"We are very sorry for gamers who have to download that much data and we agree that no one should be forced to do it just for one patch," developer CD Projekt told Eurogamer.

"We are aware of the situation and due to its nature we are in close cooperation with Steam, working together on resolving this issue.

"Unfortunately it takes some time. We will have more information ready on Monday. We are really sorry for inconvenience."

The Witcher 2 has had a turbulent release. Which is a shame, because the game itself is wonderful, and a proud owner of a 9/10 rosette from Eurogamer.

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 (43) Latest comment 1 year ago

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

  • Trigga_Tybalt #1 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 15:43:01 23-02-2012

  • megurushi Verified Consultant, 2e2 #2 1 year ago

    Wow, looks like my laziness has finally paid off. Hopefully when I get around to downloading this it will all be sorted...

  • Eraysor #3 1 year ago

    As well as being a brilliant game, I genuinely think it uses its slight instability on my PC to mess with me. Earlier on I was playing, I thought "Wow, this hasn't crashed for ages!" and it promptly crashed in the next 5 seconds. It's done this more than once!

    Loving it while it isn't crashing though :D

  • sheldipez #4 1 year ago

    I knew there was a reason I had 40meg connection :)

  • HL706 #5 1 year ago

    I knew there was a reason I had 40meg connection :)

    I bet it wasn't for 9GB patches!

    One of my eye-balls alsmot exploded all over my monitor when I saw the size of that patch!

  • Spekingur #6 1 year ago

    Should have seen my eyeballs when I saw the recent Company of Heroes patch. I have all three CoH games and the recent patch required you to basically re-download each game. FUN!

  • Darren #7 1 year ago

    It's hard to know whether this is CD Projekt's fault for using a single 9 GB archive file in the game in the first place (which causes issues with FAT32 file systems) or Steam's for not allowing the normal patching of games, instead having to download complete files. Whatever, it's quite amusing to realise that the patch I installed for my GOG.com version was just 14.5 MB, somewhat smaller than the ridiculous 9 GB Steam owners had to suffer!!!

    And there's another patch due next week too and then a further one soon after... will that be 27 GBs worth of patches for Steam users? :o
    Edited by Darren at 27/05/11 @ 16:31

  • asphaltcowboy #8 1 year ago

    Loving how good CD Projekt's communications are! Well done!

  • Cronan #9 1 year ago

    The devs are really coming across as a bunch of clueless amateurs.

  • Scopeh #10 1 year ago

    Madness!

    Madness you say?

    /rapes internet bandwidth

    This is PATCHING!!!!
    Edited by Scopeh at 27/05/11 @ 16:36

  • Vistrix #11 1 year ago

    @sheldipez Most people have a bandwidth cap on their 40mb lines (like me), so it downloaded fast but ate up unnecessary bandwidth!

  • StuDevo #12 1 year ago

    And I thought 500mb GT5 patches were big.

  • GordonJ #13 1 year ago

    @Spekingur it didn't really, if you paused two of the three downloads and just left the CoH main patch going, they would all finish at the same time. I tried it when I saw the patch for all three were exactly the same size.
    Edited by GordonJ at 27/05/11 @ 16:41

  • Paul_cz #14 1 year ago

    I love CDProjekt - even if they mess up somethin, they admit it and communicate with customers.

  • hiddenranbir #15 1 year ago

    Glad I got it from GoG! ;)

  • butler` #16 1 year ago

    so to conclude: their pr is good, but their devs are amatuer

  • Zozzilla #17 1 year ago

    I hope it won't do this if you buy the game on DVD, like I'm planning to do. @_@

  • SbEguy #18 1 year ago

    They really didn't see this coming when they stuffed everything into a 9gb file? Really?

  • mss99 #19 1 year ago

    Feel sorry for people with small download limits from their ISP's.

  • TheApologist #20 1 year ago

    How has it had a 'turbulent release'? Steam caused the problem with their patch not the devs. There was inevitably a bit of whining from people whose PCs struggled, but the patch has come out quickly and the game is clearly being well supported, and I gather updated graphics drivers are helping that minority having difficulties.

    What's the problem?
    Edited by TheApologist at 27/05/11 @ 17:53

  • 5h1nj1 #21 1 year ago

    2Apologist: Among other things, which you seem to trivialize a bit, the activation servers went down and people who bought the game could just play frisbee with the game disc. Not a minor thing if you ask me.
    Although the developers reacted very well and released the DRM removing patch right after that.

  • kingcrowbar #22 1 year ago

    This is just a normal issue with some steam versions of game updates though, no? COH (4.5GB vs 150MB) this week and I've had similar issues with GTA4 and Episodes from Liberty City (16GB EACH vs whatever MB?) on steam too.
    Unfortunately it seems to me to be a problem with Steam not actually doing any local patching and instead downloading the pre patched files, which is fine with small files but a pain in the backside with bigger ones and a relatively slow connection.

  • arremelle #23 1 year ago

    tis not a patch, tis a product replacement :)

  • immateriaux #24 1 year ago

    Given the game was always drm free with the gog version, not sure why anyone chose the Steam version. But, either way, strikes as being more Steam's responsibility than CD Projekt's given they set the rules and provide the framework for the products that they sell through their own platform.

  • EmiliasHorse #25 1 year ago

    Am I right in thinking all iPhone game updates re-load the entire product? seems like it.

    I would be slightly unchuffed at 9GB for a 15MB patch.

  • Bird59 #26 1 year ago

    I hate myself for buying it on Steam ... first, I get to play like 8 hours later than box version owners, then I have to wayt another day because servers cant hande so many users wanting to download and now this crazy 9GB patch. Its great game and I actually started to like Steam, but now ... should have bought it in the box

  • penhalion #27 1 year ago

    Yep. Should have bought the box version. You get a map, coin, music dvd, making of and the game oh and a 14mb patch instead of 9gb......yep should have bought the box..

  • dacicus #28 1 year ago

    Misleading title, Eurogamer?!

    Because only Steam had that "small" problem.

    So please, specify in the future articles what the problem really was and where, preferably in the said title.

  • varkdm #29 1 year ago

    This is actually a really nasty problem. A lot of people have download caps that aren't actually all that big. Mine is 20gb a month and if i go over it i have to pay more to unchoke the connection. I already paid extra to allow for the original 16gb download, i wondered why my service providers "you need more bandwith" screen popped up last night, i didnt realise what steam was doing (auto patched) and it ate up the remaining bandwith, had to pay another £8 for the privelege. I think you have to switch steam to offline mode if you want to avoid patching, but that basically means doing it every time you want to play a game you dont want to suck up all the bandwith - assuming you notice that something is patching in the first place.

  • Orihalcon19 #30 1 year ago

    Again. Eurogamer takes the piss with article headings. What else is new. This only affected the Steam version. My GoG version had a nice 15mb patch.

    Yes, it's a problem. Yes, it should have been anticipated with a digital distribution network like Steam. It was not. Now it get's fixed. Every other version of this game got patched just fine. So honestly. People can stop baiting the devs - they made a damn great game and are giving better follow up support than any other damn AAA title house.

    Keep up the great work CD Projeckt.

  • BloodSaint #31 1 year ago

    OMFG?!? Are they crazy?!? I live in New Zealand thus I only have a crappy 30gbs per month... no way ill use 9gb just for a patch!!!

  • Sonic_D #32 1 year ago

    This is a Steam only issue. If you use Steam to download large games like this you need to have a decent connection, therefore this doesn't seem to be a big problem. Admittedly it would be annoying.

  • suicidal_penguins #33 1 year ago

    Agree with Sonic, if you're buying games of this ilk off Steam it's a fair assumption you're happy with making large downloads.

    Also agree with earlier comments that Eurogamer is becoming ridiculously tabloid with these sensationalist, cheap headlines that totally mislead. Losing interest in coming here more and more these days, you're rapidly becoming "the Sun" of game reporting.

  • Creasy #34 1 year ago

    wow, who actually wasted his money and bought the game on steam??? while in retail (with an actual packaging and phyisical bonus) its way cheaper??!
    - about 50 eur on steam (europe), 27 eur on amazon uk.

  • FortysixterUK #35 1 year ago

    So my retail version disc is...useless....I paid for the box and the activation code only ?

    and an update now I've read the whole thread...its only the STEAM version.
    Edited by FortysixterUK at 28/05/11 @ 00:16

  • apoc_reg #36 1 year ago

    It's not been turbulent for me, just for your ridiculous amount of over the top headlines. You barely mentioned the DRM removal!

  • lockload #37 1 year ago

    8gb for a 15mb is ridiculous, bad game file/archive design

  • Haunted_Tree #38 1 year ago

    It's a little silly when the GoG download was so minuscule.

    After the problems with the first game, I thought they would have learn't some lessons. The Penny Arcade article on the difficulty level (and lack of adequate tutorial) is a case in point. Crappy patch delivery shouldn't be an issue. We don't expect PC games to be 100% perfect on release but shouldn't have to struggle to get a stable and playable game.

    CD Projeckt have a great style but need a bit of help in the publishing and distribution. I don't want them to dumb down (although this is a possibility with the console version) but wise up to the practicalities of delivering a AAA game and users' expectations.

  • ChaK #39 1 year ago

    They don't explain anything, what the hell is that headline

  • richensw #40 1 year ago

    @Darren

    It is a bit of a downer that Steam doesn't diff the changes within specific files, and always downloads the latest ones.
    Having said that, this limitation is something the devs should have worked around by adding new files which only contain the changes.

  • swelt #41 1 year ago

    I think 'turbulent' is an entirely justified description of the game launch, fanboys calm down.
    - Badly implemented DRM (now removed) caused ~20% performance loss on retail copies
    - Various problems with the launcher / initial registration
    - Lots of problems downloading the day 1 DLC & language packs
    - Various driver compatibility issues / game crash bugs
    This latest issue with their file packaging + patching methodology clashing with Steam is just one more thing. The point is that in spite of all these things, it's still a great game and worth all the effort. The developers are doing an earnest job fixing things, which is good news too - but it's also fair to say that some of these things might have been avoided if they'd spent a bit longer testing.
    Edited by swelt at 28/05/11 @ 13:37

  • dagas #42 1 year ago

    I heard they will release a T-rated The Witcher game based on Sabrina The Teenage Witch.

  • Eraser #43 1 year ago

    Uh, why didn't they release the patch as a simple diff between the original archive file and the new one?