Retrospective of The Witcher 2｜While Waiting for The Witcher 4｜Part 3/5 #thewitcher #cdprojektred
4We continue this retrospective of The Witcher saga with the second installment, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.
After achieving both commercial success and critical acclaim with their first game, CD Projekt could look to the future with more confidence. Yet "serenity" is far from the right word to describe the studio's upcoming years, which almost led to its own collapse.
The first obstacle they faced was adapting the original The Witcher for consoles. Both CD Projekt and their publisher, Atari, shared this ambition. However, rewriting the code and adapting the modified Aurora Engine to work on consoles presented significant challenges. This port was entrusted to the French studio WideScreen Games, based in Lyon. Despite support from CD Projekt Red's teams, WideScreen Games struggled with the project, into which substantial funds had already been poured. The issue escalated when Atari demanded CD Projekt reimburse the investment. Eventually, they reached an agreement where Atari secured the distribution rights for The Witcher 2, already in development.
With the console port canceled, Atari encroaching on CD Projekt’s independence, the ambitious new in-house engine requiring immense effort and investment, and the 2008 global financial crisis—a recession as severe as the Great Depression of the 1930s—the studio found itself walking a tightrope. Success or failure hung in the balance.
Fortunately, after over a year of development, the RedEngine was finally functional. Meanwhile, the game’s creative teams had been developing the content in parallel. However, challenges continued as CD Projekt aimed to surpass the first game, particularly in terms of technology and narrative complexity. Notably, they decided to include two distinct narrative paths, effectively doubling the workload across all departments. They knew many players would never experience the entirety of the game. This decision resulted in Geralt having to choose between two factions, leading to different locations in Chapter 2. The game’s structure included a prologue, an epilogue, and three chapters.
Finally, after three years of hard work focused on deepening the player’s immersion in the consequences of their choices, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings was released.
Chapters:
Introduction: 00:00 - 00:38
CD Projekt's Challenges: 00:38 - 03:27
PC vs Console: 03:27 - 05:19
Vanilla vs Enhanced Edition: 05:19 - 06:39
Presentation, Other RPGs, Witcher 1, Witcher 3: 06:39 - 15:01
Start Menu: 15:01 - 17:34
Prologue: 17:34 - 20:19 - 26:41
Combat: 26:41 - 29:50
Combat Preparation: 29:50 - 35:01
Conclusion: 35:01 - 45:40
Additional Links:
The Creation and Essence of The Witcher: YouTube
The Witcher 1 Retrospective: YouTube
Text Version on the Blog:
Blog Post
Books by Andrzej Sapkowski:
The Last Wish, Bragelonne, 2019.
Sword of Destiny, Bragelonne, 2020.
Blood of Elves, Bragelonne, 2020.
Time of Contempt, Bragelonne, 2020.
Baptism of Fire, Bragelonne, 2020.
The Tower of the Swallow, Bragelonne, 2020.
The Lady of the Lake, Bragelonne, 2021.
Season of Storms, Bragelonne, 2021.
The Witcher – Complete Edition, Bragelonne, 2022.
Video Games by CD Projekt Red:
The Witcher. Atari, 2007. PC.
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. Atari, 2011. PC, Xbox 360.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. CD Projekt, 2015. PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch.
The Witcher: Battle Arena. CD Projekt, 2015. Mobile.
Gwent: The Witcher Card Game. CD Projekt, 2018. PC, PS4, Xbox One.
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales. CD Projekt, 2018. PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch.
Films and Series:
The Hexer. Marek Brodzki, Poland, 2001.
The Witcher: Blood Origin. Declan Barra, Netflix, 2022.
The Witcher. Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, Netflix, 2019 – present.
The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf. Kwang Il Han, Netflix, 2021.
The Witcher: Blood Origin. Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, Netflix, 2022.
French Authors on The Witcher Saga:
Benoît "EXSERV" Reinier, The Rise of The Witcher: A New RPG King. Third Editions, 2019.
Adrien Marion, The Many Lives of The Witcher: From Book to Video Game. Third Editions, 2019.
Brice Lamy, The Witcher: From the Source of Dreams. Third Editions, 2021.
Collectif, The World of The Witcher: Video Games, Books, Series. Fantask Éditions, 2020.
Noumena, The Witcher III: The Game that Redefined RPGs. Noumena Publishing, 2017.
The Witcher: The World of the Witcher (Artbook). Glénat Editions, 2021
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