CD Projekt RED is pleased to announce that in May of this year, a completely new and improved version of The Witcher will appear in stores, a game considered by many players as well as the media as the best cRPG of 2007!
Michał Kiciński, CEO of CD Projekt described the idea behind the Enhanced Edition:
"The leading idea during the development of the Enhanced Edition of The Witcher is to create a game that is devoid of all "first-time" problems found in the premiere edition. The Witcher was received very warmly by both the players and the media, but we are well aware that it is not a product without its faults. There was just not enough time to perfect certain elements, while we learned that some things needed to be changed from the players themselves. Now we have the opportunity to introduce changes that will allow The Witcher to provide even more fun. I hope that, as a result, the game will come even closer to the ideal RPG game."
Maciej Szcześnik – Project Manager from CD Projekt RED, spoke about the content provided in the new edition:
"The Witcher: Enhanced Edition will be a completely polished product. A product that is rarely found on the PC market. Of course, it would be best if the premiere edition could look that way. For different reasons that was not achieved, now we're trying to make up for it. It should be easier for the fact that there aren't that many elements in the game which need improvement. Work is being done on two levels. One concerns the removal of technical obstacles that hinder the player from properly using the game and thus gaining enjoyment from it. By that I mean level loading times, which will be reduced by 80%, the stability of the game on different configurations, as well as a whole array of smaller fixes that will increase interactivity and precision in combat. The other level consists of very important changes that are not usually found in patches. First and foremost, the English language version will be, for the most part, completely re-done. The amount of text in that version was reduced compared to other language versions and that was said to cause a significant decrease in immersion and atmosphere. Now the English version will be as polished and atmospheric as the other language versions. Speaking of language versions, most of them will be more or less improved. Significant changes will also be made in the German version, where we are planning to re-record the voices for many of the characters. The most important improvements concern those elements of the game that the players criticized the most. So for example, over 50 new supporting character models will be added, so that the player won't run into the same person too often. The inventory panel will be re-designed and improved, and some elements of the main game screen will be polished. However, one of the biggest changes that will greatly increase the player's immersion in the game world will be improvements concerning dialogue scenes. Both Geralt and the NPCs will get over 100 new animated gestures which will make their "body language" during a conversation much more natural. Additionally, the face animation and lip-sync system will be re-created, making the faces of the speakers now even more natural as well. Of course, I've mentioned only the most important changes, and that's still a lot. There will be many smaller changes that will make the game more fun. I'm convinced that, thanks to them, The Witcher will be an almost ideal game."
Adam Kiciński – the head of CD Projekt RED spoke about publishing and the availability of the Enhanced Edition in different parts of the world: "Our goal is to make the Enhanced Edition available to all players all over the world. Of course, in the end, that depends on our publishers with whom we are currently negotiating. I believe that thanks to the interest shown by players, it will be possible to convince publishers worldwide to release the game in conjunction with the premiere in Eastern Europe, that is May 16. This is important because aside from improvements to the game itself, this edition is also to be improved in terms of how it's released, which for the most part depends more on the publishers than us, the authors. For example, aside from the game DVD, we are planning to include a DVD with a Mod Editor D'jinii, as well as two additional adventures, a video DVD with extended material concerning the making of the game, a music CD with 29 tracks from the game, a music CD with 15 tracks of music inspired by the game, an 80-page instruction booklet, a 112-page official guide written by the authors of the game, and a 50-page short story written by Andrzej Sapkowski. There will also be a map of the game world. As you can see it is quite an elaborate release and it is important to us that fans all over the world be able to buy this version of the game. Especially considering it will not be more expensive than the standard edition of the game! Fans that have already bought the game need not worry, however, because the new content and improvements will be available to them in the form of a downloadable update "
The Witcher: Enhanced Edition does not only mean changes in the game's mechanics or better graphics, however. There's also an included mod editor called D'jinni that allows players to create or modify their own adventures in the world of The Witcher, as well as two completely new adventures created by CD Projekt RED. First adventure “The price of neutrality” tells the story of Geralt coming back to Kaer Morhen and finding mysterious camp near stronghold (3 new quests) while second one focus on Dandelion and his troubles in Vyzim City (5 quests)
The Witcher is an RPG game about the adventures of Geralt, a professional monster slayer, developed by the Polish studio, CD Projekt RED. The game is based on a new version of Bioware's engine, Aurora 2007. The story is set in a world known from books written by Andrzej Sapkowski and sold all over the world. The game has already managed to garner worldwide success, having sold over 600 thousand copies. It has received 48 awards and distinctions, including the prestigious "Best PC RPG 2007" from IGN.com, as well as "PC RPG of the Year 2007" from Gamespy.com (see the entire list of awards:
http://www.thewitcher.com/community/pl/awards/). The game has also received very high ratings from players from all over the world, which is reflected in the average scores given in reviews from such sites as: Metacritics (9.4/10), GameTrailers (9.1/10) i Gamespot (8.8/10).
Detailed information regarding the Enhanced Edition can be found in the
additional document.
Additional info may be found in
special movie about Enhanced Edition
