Witcher Writer Doesn't Feel Like a Co-Author of the Game

[Karloff]

Witcher Writer Doesn't Feel Like a Co-Author of the Game

Andrzej Sapkowski, writer of The Witcher series, admires the adaptation but isn't a video game fan.

Andrzej Sapkowski isn't what anyone would call a gamer; Polish fantasy author Sapkowski has read a few gaming magazines, but that's about it. His Witcher [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/trailers/5586-The-Witcher-2-Enhanced-Edition-Launch-Trailer] series has done very well for gaming studio CD Projekt Red, but Sapkowski says he doesn't even feel like a co-author of the game. While Sapkowski admires the games and thinks their success is well deserved, he doesn't consider them sequels or alternative versions of the Geralt tales; just adaptations containing elements of his work.

"The visual effect [of a game] will be stunning," Sapkowski says, "the players delighted - some might even consider it to be better and easier digestible than the original book .... Some will never even reach for the original book; as for them, the game will be enough." But Sapkowski believes the book - the original, in other words - takes precedence over what is, ultimately, a copy. "Without the book the adaptation would not exist at all," Sapkowski says.

It's probably not a good idea to ask him to create tie-in content for the Witcher games. "To me as a writer," Sapkowski says, "the idea to write 'adjuvant content' and create something 'complementary' to a game or a comic is an absolute pinnacle of idiocy."

CD Projekt Red studio head Adam Badowski acknowledged the distinct difference between Sapkowski's books and the game adaptations, agreeing that there was no way the fantasy author would look to a video game for writing inspiration.

"We have Mr. Sapkowsk's blessing and what we create is in line with his vision of the world," said Badowski, "no matter how the saga will evolve ... We just have to carefully and diligently do our thing."

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-11-06-ever-wondered-what-the-author-of-the-witcher-books-thinks-about-the-games]


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[AzrealMaximillion]

Andrzej Sapkowski's response to the adaptation is respectable. He didn't whine about it like Alan Moore does every damn time. Yeah the From Hell and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movies sucked, but The Watchmen was decent(just way overhyped) and V for Vendetta was awesome.

Glad to see the Witcher's author isn't the usual stick in the mud.

 

[Barret268]

The game actually made me read the books. And they are awesome (well 1-6 are on an ok level as far as fantasy goes, but nr.7 makes them all awesome).

 

[Warped_Ghost]

We need more people with this type of attitude.
You do your thing I'll do my thing.

 

[Fappy]

Kind of sounds like Adam Moore after the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie. He's got every right to feel that way, though I do disagree with him.

 

[jollybarracuda]

It's too bad they each have different visions of their stories in the Witcher universe, as it actually would have been kind of neat to say that the original author actually got on board and wrote the third game in the series or something. But regardless, they each handled the criticism well and that's hard enough to ask for in the gaming industry, so good on them.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Have you read the original V For Vendetta? The Wachowski Brothers gutted pretty much everything that was good about it in order to make a heavy handed allegory about the Bush Administration. I'm of the opinion Alan Moore can moan as much as he likes. With the exception of Watchmen (and even then...) Hollywood has repeatedly taken his works and raped them in a ditch.

I have read the original. V for Vendetta was still a good movie regardless, and it defiantly was NOT an allegory for the Bush Administration. Have V for Vendetta's book not existed, the movies would still be called a good movie. Same can't be said for From Hell or League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Hollywood has made 4 movies based off of Moore's works. 2 of them sucked, two of them can be called good. Moore complained about Watchmen even with Peter Gibbons (the guy who drew the book) serving as art adviser, before the movie even came out.

Point is in my opinion Alan Moore will complain any time Hollywood makes a movie of his works whether the movie is good or not. At least Neil Gaiman was smart and acquired the rights to any Sandman media just in case he didn't like what would be done with it.

 

[Moosejaw]

It's probably not a good idea to ask him to create tie-in content for the Witcher games. "To me as a writer," Sapkowski says, "the idea to write 'adjuvant content' and create something 'complementary' to a game or a comic is an absolute pinnacle of idiocy."

I could be misinterpreting this as it could be a legitimate shot at supplementary stuff written for games like Asunder for Dragon Age, which I guess is a valid opinion, but does anyone else seem kind of insulted by that line?

 

[Elate]

It's probably not a good idea to ask him to create tie-in content for the Witcher games. "To me as a writer," Sapkowski says, "the idea to write 'adjuvant content' and create something 'complementary' to a game or a comic is an absolute pinnacle of idiocy."

I could be misinterpreting this as it could be a legitimate shot at supplementary stuff written for games like Asunder for Dragon Age, which I guess is a valid opinion, but does anyone else seem kind of insulted by that line?

Yeah, seems like he's a bit stuck up his own ass frankly, I love books that tie into universes I already know. I love the Guild Wars books for that very reason, I already know the places, I've been there in game, I know the world, so it's nice to see what else is happening in that world that doesn't revolve around my character.

Though I think it's cool the attitude they both have about it all, he does seem really far up his own backside. Frankly I didn't even know it was a book series at all, I just thought it was a game series.

 

[Rad Party God]

I think his reaction was OK, I'm glad he didn't whined about his work being somehow butchered by the games, I like his stance over the matter and I respect his decision, he keeps writing his books and it's up to CD Projekt to continue developing their games around them, not this guy writing his books around the games.

 

[Monsterfurby]

I could be misinterpreting this as it could be a legitimate shot at supplementary stuff written for games like Asunder for Dragon Age, which I guess is a valid opinion, but does anyone else seem kind of insulted by that line?

Yeah, seems like he's a bit stuck up his own ass frankly, I love books that tie into universes I already know. I love the Guild Wars books for that very reason, I already know the places, I've been there in game, I know the world, so it's nice to see what else is happening in that world that doesn't revolve around my character.

Though I think it's cool the attitude they both have about it all, he does seem really far up his own backside. Frankly I didn't even know it was a book series at all, I just thought it was a game series.[/quote]

Exactly. And while novel tie-ins mostly aren't an apotheosis of literary genius, they usually make for a fun read. And what is literature supposed to do if not entertain the reader?

 

[mdqp]

I could be misinterpreting this as it could be a legitimate shot at supplementary stuff written for games like Asunder for Dragon Age, which I guess is a valid opinion, but does anyone else seem kind of insulted by that line?

I think that what he meant was that writing something from the starting point that it will be some sort of filler (adjuvant content) is a poor idea, and you should stick to write "full content" books and games. I don't think he is particularly wrong on this one, you should strive to make a book or game, not "something that is marginally related to a successful brand in order to cash in" (at least, I think this was the spirit).

 

[craddoke]

It's probably not a good idea to ask him to create tie-in content for the Witcher games. "To me as a writer," Sapkowski says, "the idea to write 'adjuvant content' and create something 'complementary' to a game or a comic is an absolute pinnacle of idiocy."

I could be misinterpreting this as it could be a legitimate shot at supplementary stuff written for games like Asunder for Dragon Age, which I guess is a valid opinion, but does anyone else seem kind of insulted by that line?

Yeah, seems like he's a bit stuck up his own ass frankly, I love books that tie into universes I already know. I love the Guild Wars books for that very reason, I already know the places, I've been there in game, I know the world, so it's nice to see what else is happening in that world that doesn't revolve around my character.

Though I think it's cool the attitude they both have about it all, he does seem really far up his own backside. Frankly I didn't even know it was a book series at all, I just thought it was a game series.

I don't know - he seemed really generous to the interviewer. How would you like it if someone asked if you would consider writing tie-in material for an adaptation of an intellectual property that you created? The interviewer is basically saying, "why don't you change your novels so they agree with the video games based on your novels?"

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

fair enough, i agree with what they said but it seems like he took a bit of a pot shot and video games, while some of my favorite books have been adaptations/writings around the series. (such as the halo books)

 

[kyogen]

It's probably not a good idea to ask him to create tie-in content for the Witcher games. "To me as a writer," Sapkowski says, "the idea to write 'adjuvant content' and create something 'complementary' to a game or a comic is an absolute pinnacle of idiocy."

I could be misinterpreting this as it could be a legitimate shot at supplementary stuff written for games like Asunder for Dragon Age, which I guess is a valid opinion, but does anyone else seem kind of insulted by that line?

I don't take it as an insult. The IP is originally his. He wrote five novels and two volumes of short stories for his Witcher saga long before anyone thought of making a game based on it. It strikes me as fairly natural for an author to resist being reduced to tie-in work on what is essentially fanfiction. He likes what CDPR has done, but he regards it as non-canonical. That's fair enough.

What isn't being said is that he got burned pretty badly by Polish television when they tried to adapt the Witcher material for a series (and a movie edited from the series--guess how well that worked out). The series is "meh" on its own and awful as an adaptation of his work, so his general approval of CDPR's take on his universe is high praise indeed.

 

[Doom972]

It's like comparing silver with steel.

Yes, each is good at it's intended purpose.

 

[Leftnt Sharpe]

I have read the the two books translated into English, but it seems to be taking forever to translate the rest. From what I have read, the games do capture the feel of the books very well and are obviously made by people who love and respect the source material.

 

[Hagi]

It's probably not a good idea to ask him to create tie-in content for the Witcher games. "To me as a writer," Sapkowski says, "the idea to write 'adjuvant content' and create something 'complementary' to a game or a comic is an absolute pinnacle of idiocy."

I could be misinterpreting this as it could be a legitimate shot at supplementary stuff written for games like Asunder for Dragon Age, which I guess is a valid opinion, but does anyone else seem kind of insulted by that line?

I don't know who wrote Asunder and other books like it, but my guess would be on it being the same writers who were behind the actual games.

I took it more as "being a professional writer it'd be kinda silly to create what's essentially fan-fiction when I have the means and ability to create my own stories".

I mean if he were to create complimentary material for some game or comic he'd be bound by that in his creative freedom. His characters most likely couldn't be the truly central characters, his plot could at best be ancillary to the real plot, all his work would be a side-note to that game or comic.

And if you have the ability to be more than a side-note I'd say that it could be argued that it's idiocy to not be more.