The Witcher 2 goes DRM-free

By Fred Dutton Published 27 May, 2011

Update 1.1 finally goes live.

Update 1.1 for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings finally goes live today following a delay earlier this week, and removes all DRM measures from the game, developer CD Projekt has announced.

Available for download now from the game's official site, the patch lets new users install and play the game on any number of computers without an activation code.

"Our goal is to make our fans and customers happy and to reward them for buying our game and DRM schemes does not support our philosophy as they might create obstacles for users of legally bought copies," explained development director Adam Badowski.

"Our approach to countering piracy is to incorporate superior value in the legal version. This means it has to be superior in every respect: less troublesome to use and install, with full support, and with access to additional content and services. So, we felt keeping the DRM would mainly hurt our legitimate users.

"This is completely in line with what we said before the release of The Witcher 2. We felt DRM was necessary to prevent the game being pirated and leaked before release. This purpose has been served, so we are pleased to let our users enjoy the full freedom of game usage they deserve."

Other tweaks included in the update, as detailed fully earlier this week, include frame rate increases of up to 30 per cent, greater stability, mouse inversion and the option to re-map directional control on the keyboard.

The update also includes the game's first free DLC update, which is a new quest called Troll Trouble.

"Patch 1.1 is also very important because it overcomes the major technical obstacles some of our customers encountered with installation and activation," said Badowski. "We believe that after installing the patch, practically all users will be able to enjoy the game without flaws.

"At the same time, I would like to assure everyone that we will continue working on post-release support. Therefore, if there are things that still bother users with certain system configurations, they can expect them to be resolved soon as well.

"What is equally important, we are constantly reviewing feedback from our fans and looking through their requests and we will be adding new functionality and enhancements to the game to make sure gamers can enjoy the most out of the Witcher 2."

CD Projekt's RPG sequel launched on PC last week, winning a 9/10 from Eurogamer.

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About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (44) Latest comment 12 months ago

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

  • dsmx #1 1 year ago

    Oh PC gaming what you take away with 1 hand you give back with another.

  • ianegg #2 1 year ago

    And to think I was waiting for a patched version to hit torrent sites before pirating it.

    +1 sale

  • el_pollo_diablo #3 1 year ago

    Wow, thats pretty progressive. I do hope people buy rather than copy the game, although I wouldn't be suprised.

    Quiz time: what's the most unorthodox/awesome copy protection measures you've seen?

    I'm going for dongles.

  • el_pollo_diablo #4 1 year ago

    Or, thinking about it, Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenges sound channel thing.

  • bad09 #5 1 year ago

    After the kick in the nads from the idiots at Capcom this makes me happy, with a busted PC I hadn't got my GOG version yet, I may get myself a nice boxed version now it's DRM free.

    Now if only Ubisoft would learn from this excellent company I could buy AC2 and continue the series, but sadly they are the complete opposite side of the spectrum in terms of good customer relations :(

  • darkmorgado #6 1 year ago

    heh. the framerate increase is actually BECAUSE they removed the drm.

    The Steam and GOG versions didn't have the performance issues.

  • stevetuck #7 1 year ago

    I just bought this and now its free? :(

  • Puppaz #8 1 year ago

    10
    getting new pc soon, this game is definite purchase and just got more definite. Nice to see patches working for more than just bugs.

  • darkmorgado #9 1 year ago

    I just bought this and now its free? :(

    No, it's free from DRM.

    Why the hell would a developer release a game for free only a week after release?

  • SvennoJ #10 1 year ago

    I guess it was easier to remove the drm then to fix the invalid cd key errors people were getting.
    I still get invalid code when I try to redeem my pre-order dlc though.

    Btw the patcher doesn't know about the update, you have to get it from the website if you've already installed the game. Click on the registered users option. And change the language to Angielski on that page to find the right version out of 15 links on that page. (No clue why it turned up in Polish with a Canadian ip address)

  • darkmorgado #11 1 year ago

    So, despite two reinstallations, I am getting "installed game version is invalid or incomplete" when I try to run the launcher.

    FUCKS SAKE CDP

  • Bravestinsane #12 1 year ago

    well... thats a little disappointing... .i have gone from 25fps, to about 15.... massive drop.. and i have the retail version so i should of had a decent boost =/

    Oh well can't exactly complain with removing DRM etc, hopefully AMD will have drivers out soon so fix this issue.

  • Bravestinsane #13 1 year ago

    @darkmorgado

    i didn't have a problem installing my patch, only issue i had was because i had the launcher open, as soon as i closed it then run the exe patcher it worked instantly

  • BloodSaint #14 1 year ago

    Other companies should learn from this *eyes Ubi & EA*

  • Haloboy #15 1 year ago

    Firstly for anyone who may not know you can nab all the DLC content below which has now been released free of charge

    [link url=http://wpc.420c.edgecastcdn.net/00420C/files/InstalDLC/dlc_finishers.exe
    ]http://wpc.420c.edgecastcdn.net/00420C/f...[/link]
    [link url=http://wpc.420c.edgecastcdn.net/00420C/files/InstalDLC/roche_jacket.exe
    ]http://wpc.420c.edgecastcdn.net/00420C/f...[/link]
    [link url=http://wpc.420c.edgecastcdn.net/00420C/files/InstalDLC/magical_suit.exe
    ]http://wpc.420c.edgecastcdn.net/00420C/f...[/link]
    [link url=http://wpc.420c.edgecastcdn.net/00420C/files/InstalDLC/swordsman_suit.exe
    ]http://wpc.420c.edgecastcdn.net/00420C/f...[/link]
    [link url=http://wpc.420c.edgecastcdn.net/00420C/files/InstalDLC/merchant.exe
    ]http://wpc.420c.edgecastcdn.net/00420C/f...[/link]
    [link url=http://wpc.420c.edgecastcdn.net/00420C/files/InstalDLC/alchemy_suit.exe
    ]http://wpc.420c.edgecastcdn.net/00420C/f...[/link]

    Secondly for anyone getting installed game version is invalid or incomplete when trying to patch to 1.1, give this a try

    remove any dzips you may have put into the game folder

    1. make sure you're running the original exe and paul.dll which came with your copy
    2. removed any dzips you may have put in including trolltrouble
    3. run as admin/put in game directory

    That's worked for some. Good luck.

  • darkmorgado #16 1 year ago

    Nope, still now working.

    I'm seriously pissed off.

  • jumpdeveraux #17 1 year ago

    @EG - you might want to highlight the patch is 9GB (!!!) for Steam users which is currently frustrating a lot of people.

    CDProjekt put the bulk of their files in a 9GB pack which gets redownloaded by Steam when even tiny changes occur to files in that pack (as Steam works on a delete/replace basis per file when updating games and views the pack as a single file).

    Considering there's another patch due in about a week it's not good for some gamers who are on download caps with their ISP.

    Poor design choice by CDProjekt given they knew upfront how Steam handles updates and chose not to implement an unpacked structure on Steam servers.

    (GOG patch is about 15MB I believe...)

  • darkmorgado #18 1 year ago

    lol @ the troll negging every single comment.

    Does it make you feel big?

  • Nithron #19 1 year ago

    Ah, sense at last. Good on ya, CD Projekt.

  • orangpelupa #20 1 year ago

    awesome move CDP, awesome move.

    btw on EG:
    # Developer CD Projekt
    # Publisher Namco Bandai

    hmm NBGI is publishing..., i wonder will this open NBGI eyes of PC platform..
    maybe seeing Witcher 2 success, NBGI will port their console game to PC, and with DRM that removed after release :D

  • Pickster #21 1 year ago

    I havn't read any comments. I don't really need to because even if it has been said before, it can't hurt to be said again.

    This is the best compromise to DRM yet.

    The publisher is happy because the game ships with counter measures. The gamers are happy because the DRM is cut very soon after release. This means those that had problems don't have to wait long. And those worried about getting the game working in the future need not worry beyond hardware compatability.

    I feel like buying this even though I only have access to a 7 year old laptop at the moment, to show support.

    EG. Please pass on your members good feelings to the devs/publishers/PR. May they make many more games.

  • huckan #22 1 year ago

    The best counter measure is still go to page 135 of the manual, paragraph 2, 3rd word in.

  • GreatUncleBaal #23 1 year ago

    @el_pollo_diablo and @huckan:

    Lenslok was the worst - the little plastic thing you had to look through at a scrambled image on screen which was meant to then miraculously reveal a code to type in. I had a legitimate copy of Elite on the speccy and still couldn't play the bastard thing half the time.

  • geox30 #24 1 year ago

    First of all,DRM never stopped a game from being pirated.Keep in mind that users bought this game out of respect for your work and overall quality.I found it pirated from day 2,but I chose to buy it.Quality and value is what rivals piracy...

  • bad09 #25 1 year ago

    "lol @ the troll negging every single comment.

    Does it make you feel big?

    Probably someone from Capcom...

  • levitate #26 1 year ago

    A wonderful game with sane developers? Surely something must be wrong here.

  • TexMurphy01 #27 1 year ago

    Wow... this really does give my cynical side something to think about. Great move, and makes me even more likely to buy it (I never pirated it - it's just if I think I'll get around to playing it then I'll buy it).

  • Negotiator1 #28 1 year ago

    The game loads so much faster now after the patch, I am yet to test performance in game but all the signs are looking good.

  • KyroDK #29 1 year ago


    "Or, thinking about it, Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenges sound channel thing." - el_pollo_diablo

    whispers "you will not copy this game"

    ^^

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #30 1 year ago

    GOG.com only sell DRM free games so not sure why more people didnt just get it there to begin with and they accept paypal.
    Its rare they get the latest games because of DRM so it was clear they had managed to do a deal on the Witcher2.

    Steam is great but its not the be all and end all of PC gaming. Remember you can still add games to steam that are not bought from steam so you can still get the steam overlay in game.

  • GamesConnoisseur #31 1 year ago

    I love CD Projekt and clearly they got lots of goodwill from gamers, but hey if we go and check bittorrent, their games available to download uncracked as drm free right?

    Should ALL publishers tomorrow go naked and drm free with all their games, what to say that piracy will drop, be the same or increases?

    Seem for all this to work, depends on the trust and goodwill of gamers, and you bet other publishers are watching frequencies of bittorrent downloads while they weights it up.

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #32 1 year ago

    Bravo CD Projekt, Bravo.

  • sega #33 1 year ago

    I really just wish most games didn't have DRM in the first place. I'm kind of worried about how many games will be playable in the future - and I'm not talking the distant future either, more just a few years. Games have such short shelf lifes and games companies don't last too long either. I fear many games are only for the now.

  • bad09 #34 1 year ago

    @sega

    Absolutely, I still play games from decades ago, with DRM confidence in being able to do that with modern games is reduced therefore my confidence in buying is reduced.

    On the plus side, seeing as DRM is absolutely useless in stopping piracy, any game that won't work in the future due to DRM will be on torrent sites thanks to the hackers that this industry constantly show legal gamers are absolutely needed as a back up to their hostile business practices in modern PC gaming.

  • sega #35 1 year ago

    Yeah it's very true they'll be on torrent sites but I miss the idea that I can buy a nice new game and know I can enjoy it for years to come rather than worry about when it'll no longer work. I've bought a couple of fantastic PC games recently, all of which require an online activation to work. Whilst I can enjoy them now, at some point they won't work any more and I'm not even sure they'll work if I get a new PC. I just have no idea - I just wish it wasn't there so I know I have the game to play whenever I want. But yeah, re-obtaining it via torrent may be the only answer for re-play of games of this era.

  • neems #36 1 year ago

    Well GoG are owned and operated by CDP, so it's no surprise that they had it really.

  • Stoatboy #37 1 year ago

    Anyone know if there's also an invert Y look for the pad controls? I find the pad controls better, but can't find an invert Y option and it's driving me fucking mental.

  • uknortherner2000 #38 1 year ago

    @Stoatboy: From the launcher click on options, followed by input settings and click on the gamepad tab. There's checkboxes at the bottom of the window for inverting both X and Y-axis.

  • Stoatboy #39 1 year ago

    Cheers uknortherner2000, I'd only tried in-game.

    Hopefully I'll spend less time grinding against walls in corners now. :)

  • Barkotron #40 1 year ago

    ""Our approach to countering piracy is to incorporate superior value in the legal version. This means it has to be superior in every respect: less troublesome to use and install, with full support, and with access to additional content and services. So, we felt keeping the DRM would mainly hurt our legitimate users."

    Mr Adam Badowski, I think I love you. I have been saying this for years.

  • beatwolf #41 1 year ago

    Damn if this developer had a butt hole to fuck i would do it!

  • Sevens #42 1 year ago

    That's respectable.

  • mAc062 #43 12 months ago

    Dongles suck, I was without robocop 3 on my amiga for ages after my dongle broke it took ocean 2 months or so to solve the issue. Ocean posted me out a copy of the game that required a code from the manual, when your 10 years old 2 months is a very very long time.

  • 43n1m4 #44 12 months ago

    Nice. If just I could get the first Witcher game working. I have to register the game in order to patch it. Without patch it will not run on my computer. I cannot register for some weird reason, ergo I cannot play. Nice to hear the second game may not be that difficult, but sometimes PC gaming can be such a pain in the ...

    But just to be clear, this is a good move, through and through.
    Edited by 43n1m4 at 30/05/11 @ 17:28