Witcher 3 - Interview @ Ausgamers

Ausgamers talks to CD Projekt RED's Michal Platkow-Gilewski to ask a few questions in a new video interview about The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Can you talk to me about… you guys are masters at RPG, but this is the first time you’ve gone open-world. Can you talk about that evolution from The Witcher 1, to 2, to 3; what you’ve learnt as RPG makers, and what has changed in terms of how you approach an RPG now that you’re going open-world?

Michal Platkow-Gilewski: Sure. So at the beginning when we started The Witcher 1, we knew that we wanted to create a mature role playing game for a mature audience — by this I mean, people who would expect to have a believable story. At the beginning we [said] that we needed around 17 people to accomplish that, and we ended up with 100 working on The Witcher 1.

The game was cool; it was good, but in The Witcher 2, we wanted to go a step further: we wanted to have more consequences of your actions in the game, and we wanted to excel in the storytelling, because we think this is what’s important for us and where we are quite good. That was The Witcher 2, where choosing different factions [means] you can affect how the world and the gameplay could be exposed with different gameplay even, because big parts were unique and dependent on your choices.

In The Witcher 3, we came to a moment where we were experienced enough, we had our own technology which was good enough, we are in the moments when the next-gen(s) and quite powerful PC systems are on the market, and at that moment we feel that we can use the last missing part to tell the immersive stories, and this part is the open-world. Because only in an open-world we can truly enjoy the story which we are shaping. So you can go back and check what consequences your actions brought on the world, or you can just go wherever you want, and behave like a real character.

So that was the evolution. Right now, we are over 220 people in our studio. Out of those about 180 are working on a daily-basis on The Witcher, so it’s a big evolution in terms of who we are. We started 12 years ago, working on The Witcher 1, so we are all more mature as well, and I think that you will be able to feel that in the games.

I also couldn't resist posting this. Looks like nudity will be back once again.

AusGamers: You guys are also notorious for bucking the trend and making your games quite adult; very mature. You treat them like the literature that they’re based on. Can we expect the same thing here with things like nudity and stuff like that?

Michal: There will be nudity, yes. But how we approach that: we create what we think is real, as far as fantasy games can be real. So if there is a possibility in the story to have romance, it makes no sense to skip it because there may be nudity in that, so we’re just not afraid of that. But on the other hand, we know that we can just overdose with this, because it’s not a game about sex, it’s just like real-life.

More information.

So if there is a possibility in the story to have romance, it makes no sense to skip it because there may be nudity in that, so we’re just not afraid of that. But on the other hand, we know that we can just overdose with this, because it’s not a game about sex, it’s just like real-life.

That's how I think it needs to be done in an RPG. Don't forcefully include it, and don't forcefully exclude it.

Sorry, couch but you misspelled nudity

Originally Posted by Dr. A
Sorry, couch but you misspelled nudity

It's Fixed now sorry about that.

Just my usual typo since spell check never seems to work anymore in the editor.

Originally Posted by Morrandir
That's how I think it needs to be done in an RPG. Don't forcefully include it, and don't forcefully exclude it.

I agree maybe other studios will learn this at some point.

I am not buying W3 any more since I wanted to collect the card like W1…. not having cards is dumping down I tell ya.

Yeah I miss those cards.

There will eventually be a mod with cards I bet ya!

Originally Posted by lostforever
I am not buying W3 any more since I wanted to collect the card like W1…. not having cards is dumping down I tell ya.

I hope you're joking…

Originally Posted by Ashbery76
Yeah I miss those cards.

I kinda miss them as well. It was propably the first time ever that I found "card collecting" to be reasonably fun. I also admired the fact that they were so unashamedly erotic, with very little "classic romance" included.

Just like people in real life enjoy sex & eroticism in it´s own right, I see no reason why a game character couldn´t have a similar attitude. In this case following the "James Bond" approach to relationships. (short, sexual, with many partners and often with a sidedish of danger).

I dig the open world thing but i am not sure if the story will be consistently good , don't forget those guys are marketing to Skyrim's casuals.

Although romance & sex scenes are still make me feel like a pervert the mermaid in a bra appearing in their trailer is as disgusting as the lady of the lake with hair up her rear 10'' away from a green nude woman.

*I will take 20% resistance to magic over a sex scene any time of the day.