CD Projekt Red was really surprised by The Witcher 3 success. „We felt like rock stars on stage”
CD Projekt RED developers talked about how surprised they were by the success of The Witcher 3. They knew they had made a good game, but they didn't expect it to become so popular.
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Exactly 10 years ago, many of you sat down at your computer or console and played The Witcher 3 for the first time in your lives. Time goes by fast, and today, CD Projekt RED's masterpiece celebrates the anniversary of its release.
To celebrate, our friends from the mystery of Yennefer's different looks in the opening scene. The devs also shared how much the game's success surprised them.
"We felt like rock stars"
Even before the release, CD Projekt RED was proud of their work and knew they had made something great. Even though the creators were happy with the final result, they never expected the game to become such a huge hit, as told by Marcin Przybylowicz, music composer for The Witcher 3.
Note from translator: Quotes below have been translated from Polish to English.
We had no idea it would be such a big hit that you'd want to make a commemoration of it after 10 years. It also says something, but back then, we definitely knew that what we did was cool, good, solid, and nothing to be ashamed of.
Maciej Pietras, a film artist for The Witcher 3, recalls in the material the moment when he read the first review of the game. He itted that it was a shock, seeing how positive it was. When he first played the finished version, it didn't impress him much because he was already familiar with the story and had a perspective.
It was such a feeling - I was in shock. I was in pure shock. I got on the tram, and instead of getting off where I should have, I went to the loop because I kept reading and reading. I was absorbed and at the same time surprised. Only from that moment did I start to realize what we had done and the impact it had on people.
Even though the Witcher series gained a lot of popularity worldwide only after the release of the third installment, it was already well-known in Poland. Artur Kepen and Monika Jankowska, game testers, recall how many people were asking them for details, asking them to reveal something before the launch.
The scale of this interest was much larger than many expected. Mikolaj Szwed, the Localization Director, shared in an interview how fans at the release event in Wroclaw asked him for autographs, and he ended up giving out many of them. On the other hand, Pawel Mielniczuk, the Lead Character Artist for The Witcher 3, was on launch day in Blue City in Warsaw and only then realized how many people were waiting for their game.
I that huge crowd of people who just showed up and wanted to see us, chat, learn about the game, and get autographs. During the first and second Witcher games, it wasn't as big of a deal. There weren't as many people who were fascinated by the game. I it really hit me back then, and we felt like rock stars on stage.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was released on May 19, 2015 on PC, PS4, and XOne. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the game, CD Projekt RED will host a special live stream today at 8:00 am PT on Twitch and YouTube.
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- Yennefer in The Witcher 3 almost had a completely different look. After 10 years, mystery of the Wild Hunt opening has been explained
