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'The Witcher' author demands $16m in royalties from CD Projekt Red
Andrzej Sapkowski, author of The Witcher series of novels, is pressing Polish games studio CD Projekt Red for more than $16 million in royalties, because he reckons he was short-changed during licensing agreements made back in 1997 -- licensing agreements he apparently keenly agreed to at the time.
'Gwent: The Witcher Card Game' beta delayed to October
At E3 2016 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt developer CD Projekt Red announced that it's working on a standalone Gwent title for Xbox One, PC, and PlayStation 4. It was supposed to enter closed beta for the former two platforms in September, but players will now have to wait until October 25th to get their hands on the virtual card game. In a statement, the studio said it still needs a little more time to work on Gwent before it feels comfortable letting the public play.
I want to love 'The Witcher 3,' but my Xbox One won't let me
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, a massive, open-world, role-playing game from Polish studio CD Projekt Red, has sold 4 million copies in two weeks across PlayStation 4, PC and Xbox One. Those aren't Grand Theft Auto V numbers, but it's a huge milestone for the developer, whose cult classic games have typically launched on PC first with console versions coming much later, if at all. The Witcher 3 has also been a critical success, too, with an aggregate review score of 93 on Metacritic ("universal acclaim" according to the site) for the PS4 version, 94 for PC and 91 on Xbox One. Since its May launch, the game has received four software patches on consoles and five on PC. These updates have ranged from minor things like adding lethal cows to address a money-generating exploit, to major issues like save-file corruption and endless saved-game loops on the Xbox One edition. While almost everyone I've talked to who's playing the very Game of Thrones-esque The Witcher 3 loves it and hasn't had any problems, I can't say the same for myself. Four software updates later, and the latest patch notes still list "fixes" 52 times.
These are the biggest third-party games at E3 2014
Sure, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft all have their own internally developed games, but there's so much more to E3 than what The Big Three show off for their respective platforms. Even better, almost every game from the likes of Activision and Electronic Arts will appear on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One so there's almost no need to choose which platform to buy if you want to play a specific title, either. Let's get down to business, shall we?
Mac Game of the Week: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
Most of the games I've covered for this feature so far have come down on the casual side of things, mostly iOS titles that have made their way over to the Mac App Store. But not so with this pick -- The Witcher 2 is a great game, but it is definitely not for the faint of heart (or GPU power). CD Projekt's epic RPG famously made its way to the Mac a few weeks ago, and we're definitely glad to have the game (and the company) on our platform. But this is a high-end game that comes from a genre background that doesn't just enjoy complexity, it revels in it. The Witcher 2 is part of the tradition of European PC RPGs, which offer up hundreds of hours of notoriously twisty quests and story lines, and lots of combat and crafting mechanics. The game definitely follows in this tradition, telling the continued story of Geralt, a "Witcher" who's been trained and conditioned to fight monsters in all of their forms. The plot starts with Geralt being accused of the assassination of a king, and then winds out from there, with multiple branching paths and options to take. Combat is open -- Geralt can cast spells or slash away with a sword as he sees fit, and as with a lot of these RPGs, there are multiple schools of magic and lots of different specializations to choose from. The Witcher 2 is as far from a small, casual undertaking as it gets. It offers up a huge experience, and will likely demand that you're running a very fast Mac to play it on. If you're interested in a vast, sprawling story with the gameplay chops to keep it interesting all the way through, definitely give it a look. You can buy it from Steam or directly from CD Projekt's GOG.com site for US$29.99.
Good Old Games now supports Mac, kicks off with approximately 50 games
Everyone's favorite DRM-free digital games distributor, Good Old Games, is now offering support for just over 50 games on Mac OS-based machines. That means that classics like Syndicate and the Wing Commander series are now offered through the service, not to mention new classics like Botanicula and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. To kick off the launch, GOG's offering a variety of discounts (including 50 percent off of SimCity 2000 -- a no brainer if you ask us), as well as an Apple-flavored commercial that we've dropped below the break. If you haven't already headed over to GOG and started madly purchasing things, we'd suggest watching the tongue-in-cheek trailer, for the chuckles alone.
The Witcher 2 coming to Mac, GOG.com adding DRM-free Mac games
Polish video game developer CD Projekt is here at the MacTech Conference in Los Angeles this week because they're making a few big announcements today about the Mac platform. First, the company's biggest and most popular game, The Witcher 2, is finally arriving on the Mac platform. The Mac version was announced earlier this year, but it's now available -- if you're interested in playing the award-winning and critically acclaimed RPG, you can pick it up on the company's website right now, or grab it over on Steam. It's arriving with a Mac launch sale for just $29.99. And speaking of the company's website, CD Projekt also distributes PC games under the GOG.com banner, and the other big Apple-related announcement today is that GOG.com will now carry DRM-free Mac games as well. We cornered representative Trevor Longino here at the MacTech Conference, and as he says in the video below, GOG.com will start out with over 50 different Mac games and will add even more as time goes on. There are also a number of sales available, including an offer of six different Mac games (including Sim City 2000, Postal Classic, and Crusader: No Remorse) for 50% off right now, as low as $2.99. New users to the site will also get eight games for free, and there are some other sales going on as well, including an incredible pay-what-you-will sale on all Interplay games (!). Since the arrival of Steam on the Mac platform, Mac gamers have had many more options for their playtime, and GOG.com's move on the Mac is just as valuable.
Witcher trailer: Nothin' but CG
After announcing yesterday that The Witcher is headed to consoles with the new subtitle Rise of the White Wolf, the first official trailer has been released (embedded after the break). Don't get to excited though, as there is nary a frame of gameplay to be seen. What we do get to see is a very impressive CG movie of the Witcher himself performing some balletic moves with his sword and slaying a few monsters (are those Necrotaurs?). It's all very Crouching Tiger. We have to admit the video has us intrigued. Now we just need some gameplay.
The Witcher gets 'completely finished' version in May
The Witcher, Atari and CD Projekt's love letter to traditional (read: click happy) PC role-playing, is getting an upgrade this May in the form of The Witcher Enhanced Edition, which project manager Maciej Szcze?nik thankfully describes as "a completely finished project." Szcze?nik openly admits that while it would have been great if the original game was not riddled with issues, the team has apparently subscribed to the old adage of the second time's the charm. The tune-up will include a number of enhancements over the original release, from load times that are 80% faster to fixes to other stability and gamplay issues. The game's English version is also getting a major overhaul, with text that is said to have been "completely re-done," while all versions will get an additional 50 new supporting character models -- no doubt helpful in keeping the game world from feeling like it's populated by Sludge Vohaul's community of clones. No price has been announced for the new version, though the developer has said that it's packing in content such as the D'jinii Mod Editor, soundtrack, 112-page guide, two new adventures and more to help make being asked to buy the game a second time around easier to swallow. [Update: The publisher has confirmed that those who have purchased The Witcher will get access to the new content and improvements via a downloadable update.]
Atari to publish The Witcher
Atari has extended its deal with CD Projekt, agreeing to publish the Polish developer's action-RPG The Witcher in North America; in addition to Europe and Asia. Based on Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski's Blood of the Elves book series, The Witcher (originally, Wied?min) was first unveiled in June 2003 and made subsequent appearances at E3 each of the following years. The game utilizes a modified version of BioWare's Aurora Engine and is said to blend fast-paced combat with a twisting storyline driven by players' decisions. The Witcher's relevance in North America is crippled by a lack of English-translated Sapkowski work (only one short story collection has been translated; to be published in April). Even the awkward name witcher is lost on English-speaking audiences (Sapkowski actually prefers his word to be translated as hexer). Wied?min is derived from the polish word for "witch" (wied?ma), and, as Sapkowski imagined, was invented by magicians as a derogatory term used to describe sterile mutants with (supposedly limited) supernatural abilities. In the game, players are Geralt, Sapkowski's legendary monster slayer, who is a witcher -- "The Witcher." The Witcher is scheduled for release in North America this fall under the Games for Windows brand, and will be compatible with Windows XP and Vista. %Gallery-1467%
