Witcher 2 Xbox 360 delayed to 2012

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 1 August, 2011

CDP to "polish the title to perfection".

The Xbox 360 version of fantasy role-playing game The Witcher 2 has been delayed.

It was due out at the end of the year. It will now release at some point during the first quarter of 2012.

Developer CD Projekt said the extra time will allow it to "polish the title to perfection", according to a VG247 report.

The Witcher 2 on Xbox 360 will be published by THQ in Europe. The PC version was published by Namco Bandai.

Last month it emerged that Namco Bandai had entered into a legal dispute with Optimus SA, the parent company of Witcher 2 developer CD Projekt Red. Namco-owned Atari is dealing with the 360 version in the US.

Namco is also seeking damages after accusing CD Projekt Red of breaching contract by removing DRM from the PC version of the game. It is thought to be refusing to pay €1.2 million in previously agreed fees to the developer as a consequence of the actions.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (38) Latest comment 10 months ago

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

  • StolenGlory #1 10 months ago

    Fine with me.

    Can't say I really wanted to split my meagre spare time between Skyrim and this anyway.

  • Ahskay #2 10 months ago

    More something like;

    We need to make our amazing game trying to be playable on dated tech because Microsoft paid us some money for it but it's very exhausting and tiresome so we need more time.

  • George-Roper #3 10 months ago

    Hmm, they really seem to have a problem with console releases don't they?

  • glottis0 #4 10 months ago

    This is good for them - will allow everyone to get Skyrim out of their system and be ready to buy another RPG.

  • Phantom_Dynamite #5 10 months ago

    Looking Forward to this but October/November is too crowded, it would of lost sales to CoD, BF3, Skyrim, Batman AC and everything else so I'm ok with it.

  • jetsetwillie #6 10 months ago

    im really hoping they integrate Kinect in some way. selecting spells or weapons would be great fun and make the game easier to play.

  • metallicorphan #7 10 months ago

    looking forward to this game but glad it has been pushed back because i am pretty much looking forward to every October and November release and i have already come to terms that i will miss the launch of some of those games

  • RodHull #8 10 months ago

    Regardless of whether there are technical thingies to do, a delay makes financial sense what with the overly crowded October/November release schedules. Best avoide Mass Effect 3 in 2012 though, eh?

  • geeza2020 #9 10 months ago

    Ahskay - bugger off with your PC butthurt.

    And bugger off Namco for trying to claim damages from CD Projeckt Red for doing what their customers actually wanted and removing DRM.

    PS. Disappointed in the news in general, and hopefully it doesnt mean its going to get canned like the console port of the original witcher. Hopefully they just realised releasing it within the same period as Skyrim probably wasnt the best idea.

  • Ahskay #10 10 months ago

    why? For saying the truth? Bloody fanboys can neg all day but the facts remain the same.

  • christourlord #11 10 months ago

    You Xbox kids are in for a treat. Cracking game.

  • Dizzy #12 10 months ago

    Good decision.

  • arcam #13 10 months ago

    Namco is also seeking damages after accusing CD Projekt Red of breaching contract by removing DRM from the PC version of the game

    Wow, seriously? I know, contracts are contracts, but they are basically being sued for giving their customers what they want.

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #14 10 months ago

    @Ahskay

    Your confusing your opinion and speculation with the word fact.

  • glottis0 #15 10 months ago

    @GamesProgrammer - Despite his tone, the basis of his argument (that's it's pretty difficult to scale a high-end PC engine to console hardware) is a valid one.

    Regardless, PC gamers should be hoping for a very successful 360 version, as good sales would mean:
    1. More money for Witcher 3 development.
    2. Engine optimisations made for console can benefit the PC version, which could lead to better frame-rates and more low-end PC users being able to play.

  • HistoryTeller #16 10 months ago

    Great game! Bioware could learn a lot from CDP.

  • arcam #17 10 months ago

    Regardless, PC gamers should be hoping for a very successful 360 version, as good sales would mean:

    What it would probably mean is a Witcher 3 made primarily as a console game, not a PC game (think Crysis 2 Op Flash). I don't think that would be good for most PC gamers.

    However, by the time Witcher 3 comes out we'll likely be on a much more powerful version of the consoles, so it may not be as big of a deal.

  • Velios #18 10 months ago

    Good game this... I just can;t bring myself to play it through again though despite there being an alternate path that I could take with the storyline... Is it worth the effort?

  • CheesecakeBobby #19 10 months ago

    But the game is already full of Polish. Oh ho!

  • Laythe_AD #20 10 months ago

    @Logical_Gorilla

    They're looking for a developer with PS3 experiance to take it on. It is a notoriously finicky platform to port games over to, not friendly at all.

    And really, F*** Namco-Bandai. CDPR are doing what gamers actually want. I will wager that the DRM free versions in fact boosted sales. Meanwhile, the disc based versions ran absolutely terribly once installed, thanks to the DRM. Thus it was removed, to make the game actually... oh, playable, as I recall.

  • Bravestinsane #21 10 months ago

    putting superiority complex behind people for a while, who gives a fuck

    If CDproject say it's for polish.... THIS ITS FOR POLISH, seriously the game is amazing and you will all love it,

  • SilentTristero #22 10 months ago

    Fine by me, from a selfish perspective; I'm not relying on this for my first play-through - and there's the aforementioned crowd of releases about to be showered upon us. Wouldn't be surprised if that was the real reason.

    I wonder if the retail console release will be as rich and moist as the PC releases; maps, books, soundtracks - or some new stuff?

  • lucky_jim #23 10 months ago

    Anybody know if there's any chance of this getting a Mac port? Yeah, I know I can install Windows, I'd prefer not to though (but I really want to play this so I'm considering it).

  • Snake_2011 #24 10 months ago

    might as well get the PS3 version done as well then.

  • Xardan #25 10 months ago

    Obviously they dont want to compete with Skyrim, Gears 3, Forza 3 etc.

    That would be suicide.

  • Stratix #26 10 months ago

    Almost the SOLE reason I bought Witcher 2 before reading any reviews and having never played Witcher 1, was because they were selling it DRM free. (And it looked a bit good)

    It was a bit of a impulse buy, but I am so glad I did. Damages for selling DRM free? Don't make me laugh, it probably sold more copies because of it, and if pirates want to pirate something, DRM NEVER STOPS THEM FOR LONG. When will they learn?

  • arcam #27 10 months ago

    Honestly I think the real reason they are being sued is because Namco were dropped for the publishing rights to the 360 version.

    Namco's actions now just confirm CD Projekt made the right decision.

  • Feanor #28 10 months ago

    People really are upset at the 360 being called dated tech? It came out in 2005, FFS. I love my 360 Slim and play on it more than anything else, but I'm not going to pretend it's cutting edge anymore.

  • SvennoJ #29 10 months ago

    I wish they had done that for the pc version too. It would have been much better if the game came out with patch 1.3
    It was a great game, but frustrating to get working on day 1.

  • andywilkie35 #30 10 months ago

    Good news to be honest - very much want this but can't see how I'm going to play Skyrim and Saints Row 3 at the mo, let alone another game!

  • _Price_ #31 10 months ago

    I'm with you guys: any developer who takes the opportunity to put back a title to make it better is OK by my book.

    I'm playing through KotOR II at the moment and it's almost tragic how Obsidian were made to rush the thing out rather then finishing it off properly. It's still a solid 9/10 game (bordering on 9.5 in this, my umpteenth playthrough) but could quite easily have outshone its predecessor had they been given enough time to make the game that they wanted to make.

    In short: screw you LucasArts. Screw. You.

  • Jmek #32 10 months ago

    Dang, i suspected this may happen.

  • uzivatel #33 10 months ago

    lol, pšonci...
    I expect it to end similar to the Rise of the White Wolf.

  • gregski #34 10 months ago

    @Velios - yes, it's definitely worth it, you get to know more of the story and you have a totally different Chapter 2 with other locations, quests, and so on.

  • Lunatic4ever #35 10 months ago

    give em some time. from what I've seen in Witcher 2...these guys know the right thing to do

  • Markusdragon #36 10 months ago

    It wouldn't surprise me if the delay was Skyrim related, but at least CD Projekt are the kind of developers that actually will be polishing their title rather than sitting on it for strategic purposes.

  • Kaonazhie #37 10 months ago

    I'm not surprised it was delayed, in fact, I'm rather glad it is. Late 2011 is packed, and the Witcher 2 looks like a game that I'll need to devote my full attention to.

  • metatron197924 #38 10 months ago

    cd project dont forget that in 2013 xbox720 will come out i think you must wait to do the justice otherwise go and buy some ddr add it to xbox360 with a tape and a glue and make it playble for xbox 360 i know that the stupids will vote me negative but i dont give a shit for people who play 20fps games and think their smooth.