Although Netflix's new show The Witcher is making headlines around the globe right now, if it wasn't for CD Projekt's video game version of Geralt, the entire series based on Andrzej Sapkowski's novels might not even be as well-known or successful as it is today.
With this in mind, it comes as a relief to hear the Polish fantasy author and Polish video game developer and publisher have signed a new agreement further solidifying their relationship.
The agreement satisfies and fully clarifies the needs and expectations of both parties, past and present, and sets out a framework for the future cooperation between the two sides.
In addition to this, it grants CD Projekt new rights and confirms the company's title to "The Witcher" intellectual property in the form of video games, graphics novels, board games, and merchandise.
CD Projekt Red President and CD Projekt Red CEO Adam Kiciński said the agreement marked a new stage in the company's continued relationship with Sapkowski:
We’ve always admired Mr. Andrzej Sapkowski’s works — a great inspiration for the team here at CD PROJEKT RED. I believe today marks a new stage in our continued relationship.
It's great to see the two parties have come to an agreement, as Andrzej Sapkowski has been quite critical of the video games in the past, and has even revealed how he sold CD Projekt Red the rights and knocked back a percentage of the company's profits because he didn't believe the games would be a success.
[source cdprojekt.com]
Comments 38
I'm surprised he did this because I've heard he hates the games, and he hates that some people only started to read the books after playing the games. Still glad to know more Witcher games will be developed by CDPR.
@Emob Money.
CD Projekt Red Redemption
Great news for CDPR. Anyone got word on the terms of the deal?
Here’s hoping it’ll lead to Geralt in Smash... maybe?
@Emob Its not that he hates the Witcher games specifically, he just doesn't like Video games in general. Infact when he was offered to sell the rights for a video game, he gladly did it and thought that he made a steal as thought so very little about the gaming market. Then when he saw that the Witcher games were doing massively well, he started throwing a fit demanding that he should get royaltys on the games, despite the fact that he was paid in cash for the rights and back then he was fully satisfied with them. He has sued them multiple times, everyone a failure, trying to get some of the Witcher video game money. It seems like the devs finally caved in and decided to make an extended deal for him, which possibly the writer will help contribute for the games in the future now that he see's the value of the gaming market.
@Entrr_username Nope, because Geralt came from the books first and was adapted into video games later. If Geralt gets in, then by that Logic Goku would have to get in as Dragonball started ut as a manga, which was then turned into a NES games in the 80's, and the series has only seen more and more video games since.
Yes! I just know, that they're working on Witcher Kart, which is like Mario Kart. Or maybe they're going to make a Superman/Witcher crossover fighting game. The possibilities are endless!
I have to say, I loved the first two episodes of the series, it felt like a great mix of the books and games. It’s good to see the author settling things with CDPR, there’s been a lot of bad blood between them and this is reassuring.
lets hope he doesnt whine again and try and alter the deal lol
@patbacknitro18 I figured I get a comment like this. But actually, this is completely different than with Goku since it'll be the video game adaption of Geralt, who is pretty much different than his book rendition. Even the author of The Witcher said "the games are a work of art of their own and that they cannot be considered either an "alternative version", or a sequel". And let's be real here, even with The Witcher games being so popular, I can guarantee that tons of people still haven't heard of the books, let alone read them.
I remember how greedy that man was. He wanted even more money on top of the contract! CDPR even publicly posted his letter in which he demanded more money just because the Witcher 3 was so successful.
@Emob Mostly he hated how popular it got and how little money he asked for the first time.
The whole debacle led to silly things, like the new paper RPG being called “The Witcher: Edycja Polska” instead of “Wiedźmin”.
@Emob @patbacknitro18 CDPR even offered him a percentage of the profit, but he refused and demanded a straight up sum of $15,000 (IIRC), because he didn't believe that a video game could be successful. Then, after the success of TW3 he threw a hissy fit about how he didn't get paid rightfully.
@Entrr_username which is entirely these people's own problem, no one else's. Especially in the information age. As for differences, it's not unheard of different canons (especially adaptations) to modify characters, but CDPR's canon drives the books' chronicles forward to boot, so Geralt and the many other characters keep evolving just like they used to in the original.
@Majora101 directed at the Netflix show he's a consultant on? That could be awkward.😆
@Majora101 you don't like the show? I thought it was really good, haven't seen every episode yet though.
CPR have said they are done with Geralt, but possible we'll get to follow some of the other characters. Wouldn't mind a full blown game with Ciri for example.
Or as others mentioned, create our own witcher character.
They are dipping their toes into multiplayer with Cyberpunk, if that goes well then a full blown co-op game in the witcher world would be awesome.
@Emob he hates them because he lost lots of money because of his ignorance. CD PROJEKT offered Sapkowski a percentage deal (the % amount of money he would get from sales). He said that nobody would buy those stupid games and asked for some fixed price. When he learned that he could earn like 1902129081x more if he would have chosen the % deal, he even sued CD PROJEKT... Total ignorant and noob. - please don't quote me on this. Google the story. This is what I've heard from two different sources.
It might not just be him that wanted to alter the deal, they had rights to make video games, right? Well, it now looks like they can do more than that and create way more things based on their adaptations and with their blessings. They clearly saw all the attention the Netflix show is getting and wanted to secure their place more, anyway. Now if people want toys and comics, they'll get a cut.
@99x what Else! 😂
@Entrr_username by that logic, Xeno Goku should be able to get in. Xeno Goku is a game only character, introduced in Dragonball Heroes, who is not like the manga nor anime goku. Hes exclusive to the games, therefore he would count by your logic.
Glad they took pity on him, because that is about the only way he was going to get anything other than the original payment he foolishly took in the first deal.
@patbacknitro18 You sure?https://dragonball.fandom.com/wiki/Xeno_Goku
Even then, it's not even remotely the same case. The Witcher games actually got adapted into their own universe completely separate from the books (which tons still haven't even read).
@nhSnork Did you mean to reply to me?
@Entrr_username Yes, its litteraly the same case. Youre saying Geralt gets a pass because theyd use the game version of him, then Xeno Goku would also get a pass. And yes Xeno Goku is not like his anime counterparts. He exsists purely for thr story of Dragonball Heroes, which exsists within its own universe away from the continuity of the manga or anime.
@patbacknitro18 Actually buddy, it’s still not the same. Dragonball Heroes is not a game. Not sure why you tried using that when I was talking about the Witcher GAMES. You’re that dense?
@Entrr_username
Agreed, I don't think Geralt being in Smash is as impossible as some people think it would be. I say this because there's already a character with a similar situation to Geralt that still got into Smash: Dracula.
Yes, I know he's not playable but the point still stands, otherwise it would be fine to add Goku as a boss too. The reason that Dracula can be in Smash despite originating from a book is likely because the version used is an original interpretation of the character who was created for video games, and from what I've read on the internet/been told by my friend who has actually read The Witcher books, Geralt seems to be in the same situation.
@Transmutation Exactly. I even pointed out that the author of the Witcher books considers the games as their own adaptation
Sounds like The Witcher saga will continue. There is a lot of material from the books that could be made into a spinoff!
@Entrr_username What are you talking about, Dragonball Heroes is an arcade game. Infact Dragonball Heroes has even seen a console port in the form of Super Dragonball Heroes, which came out on the Switch. It is a video game in every possible definition of a video game. And Xeno Goku is a seperate version of Goku, exclusive to the arcade and Switch games. If geralt can get in for his video games, then Xeno Goku 100% can because he's exclusive to the Dragonball Heroes GAME.
@Transmutation Except that Castlevenias Dracula is nothing like his original incarnations, such as Vlad the Impaler. Which didn't originate from a book, Vlad was a real person who inspired the Dracula myth which later had book adaptations. Despite this in the Castlevania Games, Dracula exists as his own separate person, a new character with no relations to the pre-existing ones. He is a vampire, but not one associated with the actual Dracula. That's why Dracula works in Smash, because its based off of a creature and not an established character from other fiction. Similar to how Smash also introduces the Wolf Man, being based on the werewolf creature type. In fact to further prove this, look at The Creature and Fleaman. Obviously they are supposed to be Frankenstein and Igor, yet those are both characters who specifically come from the books. And there really isn't a creature archetype to place them under. So to bypass this, they are simply called The Creature and Fleaman to make them the astlevenia exclusive characters, and not associated with the original monsters. Geralt would not work the same as he is attached to the Geralt from the books. The games are called an "Adaptation" of the books for a reason. No matter how different they are, the share the same series name and the same characters. You couldn't bypass Geralt's origin as they could with Frankenstein because Geralt from the games is adapted from the books, its made very clear.
@patbacknitro18
I suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree with each other on this. I don't think the situation between Geralt and Dracula is any different for the reasons I stated, plus the author of The Witcher has said that he considers the games to be there own adaptations separate from the books (Entrr_username has previously provided the quote which you seem to have conveniently forgotten to read). Anyway, I'm not sure why you seem to care so much. Nobody said that Geralt will definetly get into Smash or anything, just that it would be nice if he did, and I don't see the problem with that.
@Transmutation It's not that I care for Geralt getting in Smash, all I said was that if he did get in Smash then by that logic Goku would also be allowed to get in Smash. That's when I was told Geralt was a completely different situation, which is not accurate at all. Also you keep bringing up the author, yet you forget the reasons the author wants to keep the games seperate is because he hates them. He doesn't want his book series to be tied to the game series, so his only reason of seperating them is purely out of spite. And again, the situation of Dracula and Geralt ARE different beause of the reasons I stated. And we can agree to disagree on the chance of Geralt getting into Smash. But there is no denying the absolute, 100% fact, that if Geralt got into Smash then Goku would be eligable too. As a matter of fact your Dracula argument even proves that point furthur since if you're saying Dracula can get in despite originating outside of video games, then that straight up applies to Goku as well. You can't just pick and choose what characters can be allowed by your logic.
@patbacknitro18
Whatever the authors reasons might be for saying that the books and games are separate is irrelevant. The point is that he said it, and that's all that matters. Also, I'm not "picking and choosing" which characters can get in, my whole point was explaining why Dracula is different to Goku, and that Geralt's situation is a lot closer to that of Dracula's than Goku's.
@Transmutation Again you are picking and choosing what characters your logic applies to, completely ignoring the context of Gokus situation. Maybe you don't know, but Dragonball Heroes is non-canon. As in Toriyama, the series creator, has nothing to do with the game series. Infact funny enough atleast the Witcher games ADAPTS the books Dragonball Heroes adapts nothing from the manga or anime, and instead has its own universe, its own story, new unique characters and plot lines, and a Goku thats exclusive to the games as he is a part of its unique story. Dragonball Heroes is FARTHER away from the manga, than the Witcher games are to the Books. So if anything, Goku applies far more to your logic than Geralt does.
@Entrr_username yes, I did. I just added a reply to someone else to avoid posting multiple comments in a row.
I didn’t even know about the books until recently. When the TV show announcement said “based on the book series” instead of the games, I said, “Wait, there’s books?”
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