No wonder the Witcher author hates the games

He sold the rights to make the game for just $9,500.

https://youtu.be/ZQBrYsGmnyI?t=6m46s

He wanted a fix sum instead of % per sold copy.
I don't see any shame in making a bad choice, but he obviously can't forgive himself for it. Maybe he should start playing RPGs with choices and consequences already and chill down. Or, write stories about other people in different setting and then sell that as % for sold copy - it's not too late unless his plan was to die before finishing everything about the witcher like Martin with Ice/fire books.

He obviously didnt know how big the video game market is, he simply thought of it as toys most likely and got burned by it. It's not about making bad decisions but about actually doing research before you make deals.

$9,500?? Not exactly the brightest deal in the room.

He undoubtedly sold millions more books as a result of the game. But… hope he didn't use the same strategy to negotiate book royalties.

Witcher is a great character. Great stories. Hope he's doing well one way or another.

__

Originally Posted by joxer
He wanted a fix sum instead of % per sold copy.
I don't see any shame in making a bad choice, but he obviously can't forgive himself for it.

I don't see why he should hate the game. He must have sold more copies of his books to game fans + fixed sum for the license - its not like he lost money, yes, much less than he could have but that was his decision. Being angry at the success of the game based on his book just makes him look small and petty.

He didn't do a bad desk though, so no reason to be salty. It doesn't seem like lot today, but was pretty decent money in Poland 20 years ago. And the same time the devs who bought the rights had only developed a few of point and click adventures (well received in Poland, sure, although nothing really special). The success was far from assured. In fact they abandoned the idea and sold the rights to CD Project, new and untested studio.
Grabbing the cash was pretty smart choice at that point. Sure, now Witcher games are massive, the last game was amazing and basically a new benchmark for triple-A rpgs, but who could have known how it will go. You might as well regret not buying Apple shares when they were near bankrupt or something.
What I think they guy is really angry about is that the games are more popular than the books worldwide. He's got a huge ego, so I doubt that sits right with him. Also, he's not the nicest person - he's comments about his readers can be just as dismissive and insulting as about video games.

Originally Posted by purpleblob
I don't see why he should hate the game. He must have sold more copies of his books to game fans + fixed sum for the license - its not like he lost money, yes, much less than he could have but that was his decision. Being angry at the success of the game based on his book just makes him look small and petty.

Well he is quite the character. He has always said than sales of his books has nothing to do at all, ever, never with the games.
I know than I had never heard about him until the first Witcher game which I liked but not loved. However, the idea of the Witcher and the world had some appeal for me and I bought all his books.

Would people here recommend the books? I am looking for something new to read soon.

I doubt he really hates it he probably just thinks the combat isn't as good as Dark Souls

Originally Posted by fungus
What I think they guy is really angry about is that the games are more popular than the books worldwide. He's got a huge ego, so I doubt that sits right with him. Also, he's not the nicest person - he's comments about his readers can be just as dismissive and insulting as about video games.

Yep, I think this is a big reason why he's so salty about the success of the games, although the money part probably doesn't help either.

Originally Posted by SirJames
I doubt he really hates it he probably just thinks the combat isn't as good as Dark Souls

Huh? But a game not being dark souls clone is the reason to love it, not to hate it.

Lol running into Sapkowski on the street…
Hey man, aren't you that guy who wrote those books named after Witcher games?
Guess Vogel wins this one.

Royalities on books are usually generically determined.

Originally Posted by purpleblob
I don't see why he should hate the game.

The vid product series destroyed his characters and since the vid series is now perceived as the cannon, it deprives him from the option of expanding the novels.

Originally Posted by joxer
Or, write stories about other people in different setting and then sell that as % for sold copy - it's not too late unless his plan was to die before finishing everything about the witcher like Martin with Ice/fire books.

It is too late considering that the witcher was a mish mash of various works from western authors that benefitted from Poland's insulation.

Thing is that this insulation is no longer and mixing various influences that used to be less available will no longer work.

In fairness to him as well there is no way he could have known that he games would turn into a highly successful franchise like it did. It was much more likely they would crash and burn or not even make it to market. So accepting a lump sum was probably the right choice 95% of the time.

As for the books I read one, it was ok. Pretty creative and decent stories, not the greatest writing, but that may have been because it was translated. Overall it's not a bad read if your curious about the origins of the Witcher franchise, but don't go in expecting something like Game of Thrones.

Never go for the lump sum. Always go for royalty per copy.

Originally Posted by Hastar
Would people here recommend the books? I am looking for something new to read soon.

I read the first two books, which are short story collections, and really enjoyed them. Then again, I'm a sucker for "grim" fantasy, morally grey characters and political maneuvering.
I would recommend if you like ASoIaF, for example.

Originally Posted by Damian
He sold the rights to make the game for just $9,500.

https://youtu.be/ZQBrYsGmnyI?t=6m46s

That's what happened to a LOT of authors in the past centuries … No wonder Mozart never got a proper grave …

It's a recurring theme : The *original producers* don't get any share of that - it's the sellers who get rich. Take milk or potatos for example.