It's already so early on into the year, no the decade, and we've already got a significant story making it's way around the gaming sphere; one concerning a game franchise that I cherish greatly. Unfortunately, the topic itself will be delving into rights management, which isn't the most fun thing in the world to talk about, but I'll try to keep things as brief and snappy as possible for my own sanity's sake. (As has been my style of late.) One quick disclaimer for this particular topic; a lot of it involves hearsay and assumption from folk with very few verifiable truths, so bear that in mind as we delve into the world of conflict between CD Projekt Red and The Witcher.
Or to be more accurate, the conflict between CD Projekt Red and 'The Witcher's Author: Andrzej Sapkowski. (Oh boy, once again I'm glad this is a written blog.) Their's is a relationship that spans back a very long way and has birthed one of most beloved RPG franchises of all time, but that doesn't mean it was smooth sailing all the way. Back before CDPR had to deal with the struggles of putting together a team to make a worthy Witcher sequel whilst simultaneously handling the early stages of the Cyberpunk project whilst juggling the cusp of a new technological age, they were just a small studio out of Poland that had a much more simple threat against their ideas; ignorance. (And I mean that in the least 'obnoxious' possible way that one can say something so obnoxious.)
In Poland The Witcher books are huge. Well I suppose that's a bit of a misnomer now as currently they are so popular worldwide that they are outselling Harry Potter in America, but what I mean to say is that they have always been huge in Poland. They have always been lauded for they way they handle mature themes, great characters and Slavic mythology, (Easiest the creepiest of the world mythologies) in one engaging package. So much so that it made since for a budding Polish game studio who were brimming with national pride to seek out the rights to adapt that story into a game and show it off to the world, afterall there had already been a TV series based on the books, why not a game too? Well the biggest barrier to that sort of thing happening would be Andrzej himself who, as far as I can tell, has always held a prohibitively low opinion of the gaming world.
Just like Roger Ebert who once famously claimed that "Video games can never be art", (It always hurts more when said by someone you respect) Sapkowski has thrown shade at every part of the game creation process claiming that it can never compete with alternatives when it comes to pure storytelling. There are actually quite a few specific quotes to this avail, albeit translated, but it's much too early in the morning right now to put myself in a bad mood so I recommend you either look them up yourself or take my word for it. The bottom line is this; Andrzej didn't like Video games and when he was approached to make an adaptation of his work he wanted practically nothing to do with the idea. To this day we're not entirely sure of the specifics of their transaction, but Andrzej ended up selling CDPR the rights to his property under a lump sum, figuring that the games themselves would never catch on enough to make a percentage deal worth his time. Afterall, his tales are story-rich and there's no space in the world of gaming for a story driven game, is there? (Was this guy talking to EA or something, he sounds like their spokesperson.)
Hindsight is, and always will be, 20-20 because The Witcher games weren't just a hit, I would argue that their legacy has had a marked effect on the entire industry, and CDPR have become veritable superstars in their wake. Reception towards the first game might have been rather modest, but 'The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings' practically cleaned up in the review circuit. (Apart from with Jim Sterling who still stubbornly refuses to admit he misjudged the game. Reviews are highly subjective, to be fair.) This just happened to be the time that I stumbled onto the series in a manner that was amusing organic, I missed all the rave surrounding this game and merely saw that the case in the shop had a cardboard wallet and thought "Ohhh that looks fancy, let's look it up." 'The Witcher 3' was something of a gaming cultural phenomenon with people flocking to it in a manner that felt like it rivalled the Grand Theft Auto games. (Although only in feeling. GTA still dominates the physical charts in a manner that just feels silly at this point. How the heck is GTA V still on the chart of highest monthly earners?)
It's hard to determine the exact moment when Andrzej realized that he made a legendarily poor gamble, but I'm sure that the highly publicized lawsuit was a long time bubbling in the background. And honestly, can you blame the man? His own work was making millions from new fans across the world and he wasn't seeing a penny of it, sure that was due to his own shortsighted prejudice, but that doesn't mean the man had to like it! Folk still found it disheartening to hear about the author of the beloved series locked in legal strife against the celebrated folk who had turned that series into something spectacular in the digital world. Just at the height of CDPR's fame as a talented studio with compassionate devs who were charismatic to a T, Andrzej launched a campaign against them, essentially dragging his own name through the mud in the eyes of gamers. (Not that he cared. He probably thinks of us lot as sub-human or something.)
The next big development we would hear out of the world of the Witcher would be in relation to the Netflix adaptation wherein our titular Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, would be played by a fellow gamer; Henry Cavill. Henry even mentioned, during a press junket, how he was a huge fan of 'Wild Hunt', winning him a whole new gamer audience, I'm sure. Unfortunately it would then come out that the show would do it's best to forget that the games ever existed, with the Showrunners confirming that even when they run out of material from the books they would never seek out the game's storyline; this is in spite of the huge boon that those stories have been for the popularity of the franchise, propelling an arguably niche series to a global stage. This made it seem like Andrzej's anti-gaming influence had struck once again, ensuring that CDPR's masterpieces would never be respected like they deserved to be.
This is when the story turns positive, as recently it came out that CDProjekt Red and Andrzej have come to terms, surprisingly, and that CDPR have been restored full rights to make a ton of Witcher branded content once again. This is the kind of amicable solution that, I'd wager, no one was expecting to occur although all are undeniably happy for. Looking at the situation from the other side, I suppose one could argue that Andrzej might have been attempting nothing more than a legitimate attempt to rearrange a deal to get what he is rightly owed, but his unbecoming attitude during this saga certainly does paint a more malicious picture. Whatever the truth of the matter, the ultimate positive resolution has been achieved and CDPR are free to continue making Witcher games in the future, something that they have expressed interest in a few times throughout the years. (Although I'm not entirely sure how that would work considering the excessively conclusionary nature of 'Wild Hunt' alongside the multiple endings. But another chance to play as Ciri is worth any canon bending they end up having to do.)
I suppose this means that things are looking up for the future of CD Projekt Red. Their studio is steadily growing into an independent power house and their reputation is almost spotless as virtuous paragons of the industry. (Let's hope the Bethesda bug doesn't catch with them anytime soon.) I do wonder what it was that finally changed our esteemed author's mind in the end though, was it purely just about the money he was missing out on or did the fellow truly have a change of heart? Perhaps we'll never know the final answer and we'll be left to enjoy our happy ending, even if we're not entirely sure how it came about. One last tantalizing cliffhanger to keep us scratching our heads.
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