The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Interview

Gamer Gaia has conducted their own post-release interview for The Witcher 2, only this time it’s CD Projekt RED VP of business development Michal Nowakowski tackling the questions. They move into territory beyond TW2, too, as demonstrated by the second question below:

First, I have to ask you about the reactions to the game, are you happy with the overall hype? We really loved it here at GamerGaia and I personally added a note to my review, stating that it is probably the best RPG title after Baldur’s Gate 2.

MN: Thank you for the kind words – it is always great to be compared to really great games such as Baldur’s Gate 2! In terms of whether we are happy with the reaction – I would say overall yes. The reviews were great, at least most of them, people’s comments were also on the positive side in most cases. Of course, it is those that are negative that worry us the most. I know the team noted down the most recurring comments, and are taking them into consideration with patches, etc. Gamers feedbacks are super important to the team.

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Now, I would like to ask a few questions regarding the general gaming scene. Today, companies make ridiculously huge amounts of money from mediocre games and it became more like a business rather than an entertainment. There are some games with a profit margin more than the GDP of an average 3rd world country. Do you think that the gaming industry will face with a major failure in the near future like the music industry did back in early 2000s?

MN: First of all, the games industry as such has always been business. With the exception of demo scene in the 80/90s, dev groups have always been making games to make money, and publishers were selling them also to make money. As much as we may or may not like it, development of games costs a lot of money as well, and people who make these games need to make a living too. It is a job, but not like any other. It is a job with a passion. However, even tons of passion will not help if the game does not sell at all. In such case, next project of the dev team is cancelled and the team has to look for a job. Do I think dev money is easy money? No, as for every successful project that sells well and sees sequels, there are dozens of games that either do not get finished because of lack of financing or ones that do not sell good or good enough and their sequels are canned.

Is it easier for Publishers or Distributors? Not really either – there is always a risk of financial losses, and getting black in the P&L is not as easy as it may seem from the outside. And trust me, publishers also do not make profit of the size you are suggesting – look at EA posting loss results for so many past quarters. It is a business of risk, and a pretty big one. Finally – do I think that games industry faces failure as music industry did? I think we will see changes rather than some sales breakdown. In fact, these changes are already happening. We will see bigger shift from retail sales to digital distribution and perhaps some other methods of reaching content you want to play online.