During the course of their live video and press Summer conference, the folks at CD Projekt RED have made more than a few interesting announcements. It started with a brief talk from co-founder Marcin Iwinski on The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition and its great reception, and stresses that the review scores were matched by equally positive user feedback, using Metacritic quotes to prove it. Afterwards, they talked about their “become a pro reviewer” program, which turned out to be a logistic challenge, but ended up netting them 300 hundred new reviews (1000 press copies were sent). The winner of the competition was Slackerwerks.com’s Chris Davis, who will get a signed copy of the Dark Edition of The Witcher 2. He also announced that The Witcher 2 has sold 1.7 million copies since release on all three platforms.
Marcin then moved on to talk about the Mac release of the original The Witcher, which he claims was very successful, and announced that the team is also working on another Mac port, this time for The Witcher 2, which will get a “fully native” version. The team is apparently working to make it run as smoothly as possible on all the support Mac configurations. The targeted release window is “Fall 2012”.
Speaking of the original The Witcher, he also announced that all people who purchased it will get a backup copy of it on GOG.com, exactly like The Witcher 2, fully-updated and complete with extra goodies. This concluded their Witcher franchise talk.
At this point, Marcin started introducing the second team of CD Projekt RED, formed by Witcher series veterans, that is working on a new triple-A RPG title. They described its setting as “rich and futuristic” but also “decadent and degenerate”. It’s based on the 25-years old cult PnP system Cyberpunk, created by Mike Pondsmith, who is also collaborating on the title with the Polish studio. They aim to make a game that is mature, realistic and brutal, a game made “for grown-up audiences”. The title will apparently feature “advanced RPG mechanics”, and Marcin stressed that the team is happy to not have to build the mechanics from the ground-up, as with the Witcher titles they had to iterate on the systems and made mistakes along the way, while they have a solid foundation this time. The game will feature different customizable classes, and an arsenal of weapons, gadgets, implants and high-tech toys. No gameplay or screenshots of the title were shown, only concept art, but Marcin confirmed that the game is going to run on the company’s RED Engine. As of now, no platform for the title was announced.
After the announcement Mike Pondsmith was welcomed on stage to talk about Cyberpunk, his conception of the genre. Much of what was described in cyberpunk stories is coming true, and technology changes people. He also said that, when contacted from CD Projekt, he thought they could do it after seeing the Witcher titles.
After the Cyberpunk announcement was finished, GOG.com’s Trevor Longino got on stage. Firstly, he confirmed that new classics are coming, announcing Sid Meier’s Colonization for $5.99 and the first three Tomb Raider games in a bundle for $9.99. Then he announced some new indie titles coming to the digital platform, open-world arcade adventure Retro City Rampage, indie platformer Tiny & Big in Grandma’s Leftovers and adventure title Resonance, for which a “playable preview”, essentially a demo, is available, for pre-order. Retro City Rampage is $14.99 while the other two titles are available for $8.99, 10% off for the pre-order time.
To conclude the conference, Longino cited some impressive numbers, as Legend of Grimrock sold 20,000 copies in 2 months on GOG, and the site got 1.2 million visitors when they made Fallout free for a limited time. He also performed one of GOG’s trademark awkward stunts, and read a “love letter” to developers with blues guitars playing in the background, inviting them to contact the website to get on it, and promising they’d be treated right.
UPDATE: Here’s the post-conference press release, with more details on the Cyberpunk RPG:
Award-Winning Developers of “The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings” Announce Triple-A RPG Based on the “Cyberpunk®” Universe
CD Projekt RED Studio, announced their currently-in-development triple-A game based on renowned pen&paper RPG designer Mike Pondsmith’s Cyberpunk® system.
WARSAW, POLAND (30 May 2012) — During its Summer Conference today, CD Projekt RED Studio, critically acclaimed RPG developer, announced that it is working on a new triple-A game based on the cult classic Cyberpunk® pen & paper RPG system created by Mike Pondsmith.
At the conference, CD Projekt co-founder Marcin Iwinski promised gamers that this game would have all of the hallmarks of the Witcher series that has made the developer so well-known and loved, and even more. Their upcoming RPG will be designed for mature and demanding players who expect to be treated seriously, and the game will be richly detailed, non-linear, and with a complex and gripping story. This much is expected from the talented studio, but the new universe brings with it some new twists in their game design. Players will experience the world through their own, unique characters chosen from different classes – be they blood-thirsty mercenaries or cunning hackers – who they will equip with vast choice of cybernetic implants and deadly weapons. As in The Witcher series, players will face morally ambiguous choices, their actions influencing events in the world at large and the fate of the individuals they encounter.
Original “Cyberpunk” game designer Mike Pondsmith was at hand for the conference in Warsaw, Poland. “For over two decades, I’ve been proud to say that Cyberpunk’s been the gold standard of what it means to be a true cyberpunk game. And it’s been a huge success for me and our many fans, with over 5 million players worldwide. But over all that time we haven’t found the right team to bring our cyberpunk world to full digital life — until now. CD Projekt Red is the team we’ve been hoping for. Their incredible work on The Witcher and The Witcher 2 shows that they share the same dedication and love of great games that we do at Talsorian. I’m especially stoked that they want our participation in making this game a fantastic project that will live up to everything Cyberpunk fans (old and new) have been waiting for. Trust me — this game is going to rock,” said “Maxmike” Pondsmith.
This game will be developed by a new team at CD Projekt RED Studio, composed of veterans from the Witcher franchise. The studio will set new standard in the futuristic RPG genre with an exceptional gaming experience. The most important goal for this division is to create a game matching their vision, a game that corresponds to their high production values.
CDP RED Studio also made several Witcher-related announcements during the Summer Conference. The company revealed sales numbers for “The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings,” announcing that more than 1.7 million copies have been sold on PC and Xbox 360. Further, The Witcher 2 is expanding its markets. On August 23rd the Xbox version of The Witcher, published by Spike Chunsoft, will hit the stores in Japan, and the studio will bring “The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition” to Mac this fall.
CD Projekt RED also announced that it is looking for talented arists, programmers and designers to help create the “Cyberpunk” title. For job listings and details, visit CDPRed.com.
Going above and beyond the call of duty, CDP RED Studio has also offered a free digital back-up copy of “The Witcher: Enhanced Edition” (the first game in the series) to all PC gamers (over 2M of them) who already own the game or plan on buying it in the future, available now at http://www.gog.com/witcherbackup.
Sister company GOG.com was also at the conference, revealing the release of “Tomb Raider 1+2+3” and “Sid Meier’s Colonization,” as well as a number of new indie games available for preorder: “Retro City Rampage,” “Tiny & Big in Grandpa’s Leftovers,” and “Resonance.” GOG.com has also put out a call for talented developers to submit their game for release on the DRM-free digital distributor by emailing WeLoveDevs@gog.com.
CD Projekt RED presented one of the first concept arts for the Cyberpunk® project. It can downloaded here.
About CD Projekt RED Studio
Developers of the award-winning besetting Witcher franchise of video games, this Polish development studio has sold millions of copies of their game on PC, Mac, and Xbox 360. After 6 years of developing fantasy games set in Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher universe, they have announced that they will be creating a new franchise of games based on the “Cyberpunk” futuristic RPG system in collaboration with Mike Pondsmith, the original designer of the pen-and-paper universe in which the upcoming game is set. CD Projekt RED is part of the CD Projekt RED S.A. group of companies traded on the Warsaw Stock Exchange under symbol CDR.
About Mike Pondsmith
Michael Alyn Pondsmith is a roleplaying game and video game designer. He is best known for his work with R. Talsorian Games, where he developed most role-playing game lines including cult classic “Cyberpunk.” He worked with Microsoft Game Studios or related companies on mostly Xbox video games including “MechCommander 2,” “The Matrix Online,” and “Crimson Skies.” In 2006 he was inducted into the Origins Awards Hall of fame.
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