JC: The Witcher 2 was developed for the PC first, and then ported over to the Xbox 360 later. What are the plans for The Witcher 3? Will it be solely developed for the PC first, and then ported over to the next-gen consoles, or optimized for next-gen consoles, and ported directly to the PC?
DG: All versions are being developed simultaneously and will be released at the same time. Without going into too much detail, developing for the PC and the new consoles is much easier in this new generation than in the previous one, mainly because of certain similarities in architecture. We didn’t have to dedicate separate teams to take care of optimization, which has let us concentrate our firepower and will ultimately lead to a more polished game. Moreover, we’re extremely excited about developing The Witcher 3 for the next-gen platforms, as they are extremely capable and constitute a huge step forward in comparison to the previous generation. Keep in mind, though, that we’re already taking the specific features of each platform into account and we’re examining to what extent they might impact gameplay or improve the experience.
Delivering content to as many players as possible is also crucial for us. We’ve created a sophisticated story based in a vast, open world and we want to make sure that gamers can access it without worrying about whether The Witcher 3 will appear on their console of choice or not.
JC: With The Witcher and The Witcher 2, the enhanced content was released to gamers free of charge, as well as all subsequent DLC. With most developers & publishers moving towards “Day 1” DLC, as well as considerable amounts of post-release DLC, will CD Projekt continue to offer extended content free of charge, or will we see paid DLC in the future?
DG: “Some things never change, some things do” – wise words from a great film, and also quite applicable here: this is one of the former. We didn’t build a close relationship with our fans just to abandon it now – our policy concerning the release of additional content has become a part of who we are. I mean, we simply don’t understand how someone could expect payment for adding two new swords and some shiny armor to a game. That would be totally against our DNA.
We plan on continuing this trend in the case of The Witcher 3. Having said that, as of now, we still don’t have all the details on how the new consoles will tackle these issues. We’ll try our best to stay true to our traditions on these platforms. Fortunately on the PC we’re free to do as we choose in this matter.
News-bit deleted except for the comments. Thanks for spotting this Dr. A.