The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is to be one of the big releases next year, being the third instalment of a franchise whose previous two games have sold over 7 million copies. In an exclusive interview with Krishna Bahirwani, Marcin Momot, Community and Social Media Coordinator, CD Projekt Red, shares his thoughts on the game.
What made CDPR decide to create a game based on Sapkowski's books?
Poles are huge fans of both Sapkowski's books and the world he created, so it's pretty natural that a Polish company wants to make a game based on who we call the "Polish Tolkien". Also - we are adult gamers, and we really wanted to play a game for mature audience. A game which is mature in terms of content, of how it treats the player, and of how it depicts serious problems like social inequality, poverty or war. Poles already know that this world is amazing piece of fantasy, and we want to share that with the world.
The game is said to be having a living open world larger than any other in modern RPG history. How detailed is this world?
It's very detailed. Our open world is constituted by places with different mood and setting. Each region is handcrafted by our gifted environmental artists, who take care of accurate placing of almost every tree, stone and puddle of water you will encounter. We have a great number of points of interest to keep players hooked as there's always something to do and something to beckon you on the horizon.
Where has Wild Hunt improved over the last two games? How do the player's actions alter the world?
It's not the most humble of answers but - it improved in every single aspect. We have a huge, detailed and open world filled with quests that will have their consequences you will have to deal with. We completely revamped the fighting system to make it more responsive, fluid, and fun for the players. We expanded on the world, making it bigger, more detailed, and more meaningful. And of course - we worked hard to nail the quests, making them interesting, and as influential as possible. Your decisions will leave their mark on the world and on the people. When talking to someone you always have to have the consequences in mind - what will be the outcome of your action? Will it eventually help you, or will it hinder your progress.
Do you feel first-time players will get a great standalone experience with Wild Hunt regardless of whether they 've played the previous two games?
It's very important to note, that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be a standalone experience. You don't have to play previous games to understand what's happening in the Wild Hunt. We created the story which is self-explanatory, and understandable even for people who never heard of Geralt and his past adventures. And for everyone who actually wants to delve deeper into the lore, every copy of the game comes with a Compendium in which you will be able to find all the necessary information on the world, heroes, places and politics.
What has been the most challenging part of Wild Hunt's development process so far?
The most challenging aspect of creating the game was to limit the number of things we wanted to put in it. It's really hard to limit yourself in this way, especially when you are working on a videogame which you want to be universal and "having it all". Currently we're launching the game on Xbox One, PC, and PlayStation 4.
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