Witcher 3 - Status and The Witcher Mobile Game

Yes, it is very risky, and releasing it on top of DA: I would probably be a mistake economically. BioWare (backed by EA) still has a lot more marketing muscles and influence than CDP. So what if a niche RPG forum is more excited about TW3 than DA: I? That's not where money is made. TW3 is costing CDP a fortune to make, so they obviously want to release it at the best possible date. Anything else would be too risky.
 
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I doubt DA:I will have much influence on TW3 either way, as they're completely different games. One is made for the core audience and the other is a mainstream AAA game made for the masses.

A risk releasing TW3 close to DA:I? A minor one, if that.

They want the game to be finished and polished, and that's the primary reason - I have no doubt. That's just as much a business decision as the other reasons.

They have so much riding on this game that they can't afford to half-ass it.
 
They did however released Enhanced Editions of both their earlier games. Can we expect that for the game this time around as well? They were sorely needed for the first two and they were huge improvements.
 
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They were hardly needed, as I played and loved TW2 without it - and so did a lot of people with the first game.

I would never expect developers to work extra without compensation. Then again, I was raised to understand that nothing is perfect and I know something about the nature of development.
 
My memory's a bit fuzzy but I remember the witcher 1 being released in a pretty poor state and the EE if not needed was definitely a major improvement and highly recommended.

I believe it was actually a bit of a peace offering for the poor release state of the game.

I would agree though that the witcher 2 EE was not needed.
 
It could also be a clever PR stunt - and I'm not especially grateful. I simply don't expect significant upgrades for free - but I can't just assume they're doing it out of kindness.

They've developed a sort of rebel against the machine image - and that's pretty cool, but I'm not naive enough to believe they enjoy working for free.

More than likely, they've exploited their sub-AAA position and have been clever about their PR.
 
The EE was more needed for the first game (most importantly, for its big optimization work and better translation). Still, I'm happy that they decided to give the same treatment for TW2.
 
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DArtagnan said:
I doubt DA:I will have much influence on TW3 either way, as they're completely different games. One is made for the core audience and the other is a mainstream AAA game made for the masses.
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They're both AAA games made for the masses. The Witcher 1 and 2 has sold over 6 million copies, which isn't far behind Dragon Age 1 and 2. Given the massive budget, The Witcher 3 is probably aiming for 5+ million alone. The audience of The Witcher might be somewhat different to that of Dragon Age, but a lot of them (such as me) will be playing both, but only one at a time.

It is beneficial for both BioWare and CDP to not release at the same time. They'd rather have "AAA RPG monopoly" for 3+ months than forcing people to choose one over the other. It's good business to target a period noone else is targeting, as they'd attract practically every RPG fan in the world then.
 
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Maylander said:
They're both AAA games made for the masses. The Witcher 1 and 2 has sold over 6 million copies, which isn't far behind Dragon Age 1 and 2. Given the massive budget, The Witcher 3 is probably aiming for 5+ million alone. The audience of The Witcher might be somewhat different to that of Dragon Age, but a lot of them (such as me) will be playing both, but only one at a time.
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Oh, I'm not saying they won't sell well - I'm saying they're not aimed at the masses in terms of design and the nature of the storytelling.

If it had been the original Dragon Age with the old Bioware developers, it might have been a different story.

But Dragon Age 2 was clearly a game designed for mass appeal and the mainstream audience. They just messed it up big-time, but that's another story.

That said, one is a single character game with primarily action combat and the other a party based game with "tactical" combat.

It is beneficial for both BioWare and CDP to not release at the same time. They'd rather have "AAA RPG monopoly" for 3+ months than forcing people to choose one over the other. It's good business to target a period noone else is targeting, as they'd attract practically every RPG fan in the world then.
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Sure, if you believe people stop buying games they want to play because there's more than one available.

I consider that an out-of-date perception that hearkens back to the old days where retail was the only option, whether you were a core gamer or not.

For DA:I - which is clearly a mainstream RPG, it might be a problem because people who're not dedicated RPG fans might not get a cheap key or whatever, and still think it's smart to buy retail versions.

But The Witcher 3 being seriously threatened by DA:I? I just don't see it.
 
Maylander said:
It's good business to target a period noone else is targeting, as they'd attract practically every RPG fan in the world then.
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I agree on this 100%.
Cdprojekt is most probably not scared over quality of other releases in this year, but over quantity. And why wouldn't they dodge the flood of games in this year?

So far next year they could face only two serious competitors. That's Mass Effect 4 and Fallout 4.
Also, while FC4 is not RPG, it's still openworld shooter with RPG elements and is expected in this year.
 
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Maylander said:
Yes, it is very risky, and releasing it on top of DA: I would probably be a mistake economically. BioWare (backed by EA) still has a lot more marketing muscles and influence than CDP.
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That. Though they might be running into Tides of Numawhateveritis in 2015. Even if CDP could match EA, it would still mean getting half the full price sales they could get if they wait for a clear field.

P.S. Yeah, Witcher 1 came out with some pretty major problems. IIRC, the worst was the loading times which were horrific until version 1.2. That was well before the enhanced version, though.
 
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DArtagnan said:
Sure, if you believe people stop buying games they want to play because there's more than one available.

I consider that an out-of-date perception that hearkens back to the old days where retail was the only option, whether you were a core gamer or not.
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The risk is very real.

I'd expect people to buy one game upon release, and then buy the other once they finished game number one, possibly even waiting for a price drop (which comes sooner nowadays). It would be stupid to buy both games at full price.
 
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Again, I don't think the games are similar enough - and I don't think people who genuinely want TW3 would choose DA:I if they had to pick one. Some would, sure, but not enough to make it a "real risk". A minor loss at worst.

People are stuck in the past with this kind of fear - given the price of cd keys. If both games were mainstream games, maybe it would be a bigger risk - but only one is mainstream game.
 
DArtagnan said:
People are stuck in the past with this kind of fear - given the price of cd keys. If both games were mainstream games, maybe it would be a bigger risk - but only one is mainstream game.
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Really? And which one is that? It's not as obvious as you allege.
 
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DA2 went mainstream and it didn't end well. DA:I is supposed to be an atonement but what it will or won't be is too early to tell.
 
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zahratustra said:
DA2 went mainstream and it didn't end well. DA:I is supposed to be an atonement but what it will or won't be is too early to tell.
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You mean they're trying to market it as a game with its soul intact while EA is publishing it and subtly indicating they also want it to sell 10 million copies using their factory line Frostbite engine?

Yeah ;)
 
I - don't - know. The point is that you don't know either.
 
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DArtagnan said:
Sure, if you believe people stop buying games they want to play because there's more than one available.

I consider that an out-of-date perception that hearkens back to the old days where retail was the only option, whether you were a core gamer or not.

For DA:I - which is clearly a mainstream RPG, it might be a problem because people who're not dedicated RPG fans might not get a cheap key or whatever, and still think it's smart to buy retail versions.

But The Witcher 3 being seriously threatened by DA:I? I just don't see it.
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I'd agree if I didn't have first-hand experience. There's been many a time that I haven't got/played certain games because they were released so close to each other. I pick one, then by the time i'm even remotely close to starting on another, there's something else that has caught my interest, and interest in older stuff has fizzled. And i know i can't be the only one who feels that way. Besides, while there's some that see all this as pointless PR from execs that know nothing about gaming, just numbers, there are, contrary to what some may think, some people who do know what they're doing in regards to marketing the game properly.
 
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