Marcin Iwinski - Witcher Boss Interview

Glixel interview Marcin Iwinski about the origins of CD Projekt Red and about the thinking behind the companies projects.

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At the very beginning of The Witcher 3, Vesemir says to Geralt: "It used to be simple. Monsters were bad, and humans were good. Now things are all confused." That's the theme of the whole game.
In the literature and in the game, the worst monsters are humans. I really don't want to use the word "mature," because it hasn't got the right flavor, the right color, but we developed these games and wrote the story for adults. We want to entertain them. We want to surprise them. We want to play with their vision of the world. The Bloody Baron quest: It's fantasy, there's this unborn child that turns into a monster, but still it's a real, tragic situation.

I'm not playing as many games as I used to, but I love to consume culture. Whenever I go for a certain form of entertainment, I want to be surprised. I want a certain freshness. I want something new. If I'm going to the cinema, and from the very beginning I know what's going to happen, where is the reward for me? I want the story to play with my intelligence, with my knowledge about the world, and maybe deliver something new. I hope that's what we are delivering in our games.

I was hoping to finally finish The Witcher 3 before we talked, and I just couldn't quite get there in time. Is there a reason you wanted the game to be so long?
The thing is, when a game isn't finished, you have a certain vision of the story. You want to make it rich, you want to make it great, and in our case nonlinear, deep, with very strong personalities and characters. And so you run wild.

And then you put it all together, and, "Wow, boy, it's big." You do a lot of cutting, because that's what development is. It's about thinking what you can sacrifice to get to the launch.

If I count my time, I spent around 200 hours in the game, with the expansions. You can finish the game in, what, 60 hours? That's probably what my 14-year-old daughter did. There's a certain feeling of accomplishment at the end.

I'm really curious how my second playthrough would be, but I don't have another 200 hours. What we are all fighting for as creators is people's time. With family and running a company and traveling a lot, I'm more and more paranoid about allocating my time.

I even started keeping a log last year of what I read, what I watch, the culture I consume. I'm so paranoid that I started rating it, and when I see that I spend a couple days on a book and then I give it 3 out of 10 - I'm asking myself, "Why didn't you throw it away?" Because I could have done something else. The backlog is really long.

Just to be clear, I'm not running development. I'm running the company. Of course, I take part in the key decisions, along with the storytellers and the developers working on it.
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More information.

So, is this writer really complaining that the game is too long? Really? Too long? That's one of the reasons i love it so much.

Every time I read something from those guys, it cements my respect and admiration for them. (That is not something that happens to me often).
Their success is well deserved.

Originally Posted by DarNoor
So, is this writer really complaining that the game is too long? Really? Too long? That's one of the reasons i love it so much.

Yes, made me wonder too. The game is awesome, how can you complain having to much content? Damn I could do with a a bigger Skellige ..

Originally Posted by DarNoor
So, is this writer really complaining that the game is too long? Really? Too long? That's one of the reasons i love it so much.

Yeah I have seen this sentiment from some gamers too

"I can't get into this game, it is too long"

Oh fuck off, for once we get a game that is long while keeping high level of quality, this happens once every 5 years (before TW3 it was New Vegas) and these fucking people are still bitching.

Iwinski has to be the best name possible for a Polish gaming guy.

Witcher is an incredible game. Extremly beautiful, likeable chars (mostly) and great quests (mostly).
If they would only fix the too easy combat and boring loot…
Nonetheless a must-play game!

Originally Posted by Paul
Yeah I have seen this sentiment from some gamers too

"I can't get into this game, it is too long"

Oh fuck off, for once we get a game that is long while keeping high level of quality, this happens once every 5 years (before TW3 it was New Vegas) and these fucking people are still bitching.

I haven't played Witcher 3 but when most people complain a game is too long they mean that it becomes repetitive and grindy. I don't think anyone would complain about a game's length if the expirience would remain great and fresh at any time. However that can hardly happen in a 80+ hours game when most of the time you are fighting the same type of monsters again and again.

Personally I think most RPGs are too long in that respect, though who knows, Wither 3 might be an exception (the first one at least wasn't from my point of view).

Originally Posted by Vitirr
I haven't played Witcher 3 but when most people complain a game is too long they mean that it becomes repetitive and grindy. I don't think anyone would complain about a game's length if the expirience would remain great and fresh at any time. However that can hardly happen in a 80+ hours game when most of the time you are fighting the same type of monsters again and again.

Personally I think most RPGs are too long in that respect, though who knows, Wither 3 might be an exception (the first one at least wasn't from my point of view).

I already addressed that in my post. Witcher 3, much like New Vegas, features both quantity AND quality. When I was at the end of my 260 hour playthrough, I did not want it to end.

That sounds great, though other people might have oher thresholds

Originally Posted by Paul
Witcher 3, much like New Vegas, features both quantity AND quality.

… within a typical open-world framework, though.

Originally Posted by Capt. Huggy Face
Iwinski has to be the best name possible for a Polish gaming guy.

That only works in English though

Originally Posted by zahratustra
That only works in English though

Got me there.