Witcher 3 Studio Promises "Absolutely No DRM" At Launch

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Witcher 3 Studio Promises "Absolutely No DRM" At Launch


CD Projekt co-founder and CEO Marcin Iwinski says the PC version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will launch with absolutely zero DRM.

CD Projekt has never made any secret of the fact that it doesn't care for DRM [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/117361-DRM-Is-Still-Dumb-Says-CD-Projekt] - that's digital rights management, which is a swanky way of saying "copy protection," for those of you just joining us - and that it doesn't believe it actually does any good as far as preventing piracy or improving sales. But today, Iwinski put his money where his mouth is with "an open letter to the community" in which he addressed concerns about the upcoming Witcher 3.

"I'd like to say it loud and clear: The PC version of The Witcher 3 will have absolutely no DRM from day 0. Zero. Zip. Nada. It doesn't matter if you choose to buy it on GOG.com and support us directly or buy the game in box format, you'll still get the 100% DRM-free experience. And this goes for the whole world," he wrote. "We've fiddled with DRM in the past (Oh boy! How young and naive we were;)) and that's enough. Lesson learned."

The definition of DRM can get a little hazy at times, thanks in large part to the advent of Steam, a point that Iwinski addressed in an update to his message. "It'll be on Steam; the team isn't going to exclude that community by any means," he wrote. "Gamers have a choice in where they buy their games, but where CDPR does have control - like GOG.com - there will be absolutely no DRM."

So there you have it. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is expected to launch sometime in 2014 for the PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Source: CD Projekt Red [http://cdpred.com/no-drm-in-the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-an-open-letter-to-the-community/]


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James Crook

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Jul 15, 2011
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Fantastic! I'll still pick it up on Steam though. I'm sure people who do will still get GoG keys.
 

Jaeger_CDN

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Aug 9, 2010
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Same reason I bought Witcher 2 from them direct instead of through Steam (plus the fact that 100% of the money goes to them instead cut by a middle man).

 

teh_gunslinger

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James Crook said:
Fantastic! I'll still pick it up on Steam though. I'm sure people who do will still get GoG keys.
I would really, really hope they don't. Whoever is foolish enough to buy on Steam when better alternatives are present deserve what they get.
 

Mrshilka

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I also bought direct from GoG when I got witcher 2, only way I could get the full game without stupid censors cutting out content.
 

CardinalPiggles

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James Crook said:
Fantastic! I'll still pick it up on Steam though. I'm sure people who do will still get GoG keys.
Honestly you're better off buying from GoG. If your internet goes down, gets cancelled, or you just don't have any available connection for a while you'll still be able to easily play the game just by launching it.

I'm not just saying that because I think CDPR deserve 100% of the revenue for their game, but it's a safer option for you, objectively. Everybody wins (except the monolithic Valve).
 

James Crook

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CardinalPiggles said:
James Crook said:
Fantastic! I'll still pick it up on Steam though. I'm sure people who do will still get GoG keys.
Honestly you're better off buying from GoG. If your internet goes down, gets cancelled, or you just don't have any available connection for a while you'll still be able to easily play the game just by launching it.

I'm not just saying that because I think CDPR deserve 100% of the revenue for their game, but it's a safer option for you, objectively. Everybody wins (except the monolithic Valve).
Well, I did get a GoG key when I bought Witcher 2 from Steam...

Captcha: "bad books"
No, Captcha, the Witcher books are good.
 

Crimsonmonkeywar

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I'll stick to the Steam version, but glad to see them leave options for those that want them. The only DRM that's of concern to me is 'always-online" and "always call in", if it's not those I'm fine.
 

Erttheking

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You know, there's a lot of things in the gaming industry that make me go "same old news" CD Proket RED is one of the few studios that make me say this with a smile on my face. Keep up the good work guys...Mac port please?
 

snekadid

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Mar 29, 2012
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Sigh..... I really like CDPR's long running antiDRM campaign and like the idea of them getting fully paid for their work... but I'm OCD and hate the idea of Witcher 3 not being next to my witcher 1 and 2 games on steam.....

I don't know how much more I can add to this topic. Anyone that's read a post of mine knows of my opinion that DRM has never benefited any game EVER and have stopped pirates about as often. Plus I just don't feel like ranting on an already really positive article so I think I'll take my leave.

Captcha: now look here
NO CAPTCHA! YOU SHUT UP!
 
Apr 28, 2008
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Hooray! I was sad when I found out the boxed copy of Witcher 2 had DRM. They did remove it in like two weeks, but still. This news makes me happy, since there's no way in hell I'd be able to download Witcher 3 on my connection. Judging by how big other next-gen games are... my connection weeps just thinking about it.
 

Doom972

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CardinalPiggles said:
James Crook said:
Fantastic! I'll still pick it up on Steam though. I'm sure people who do will still get GoG keys.
Honestly you're better off buying from GoG. If your internet goes down, gets cancelled, or you just don't have any available connection for a while you'll still be able to easily play the game just by launching it.
The same is true for Steam. I play many games on my laptop when I'm not at home, and I let Steam go to offline mode, and everything works fine.

I'm not just saying that because I think CDPR deserve 100% of the revenue for their game, but it's a safer option for you, objectively. Everybody wins (except the monolithic Valve).
The same amount of money that would go towards Steam, would go to towards GOG, so you're still funding a distributor as well as a developer - only in this case, the developer and distributor are one and the same.
 

Josh123914

They'll fix it by "Monday"
Nov 17, 2009
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Its good that CD are taking a stance on this issue (one in our favour) but I can't help but think that this'll be the conversation that'll happen between them and distributors:

CD: *exhausted* For the last time, you are not going to put DRM in our games....

EA Malevolent Publisher:
 

Rad Party God

Party like it's 2010!
Feb 23, 2010
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I'm glad they're not including any DRM at all, I remember the debacle that The Witcher 2 had on it's first few weeks and it wasn't a pretty sight, to say the least.
 

grey_space

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Apr 16, 2012
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DVS BSTrD said:
Sometimes doing the right thing means not doing the Rights thing :p
Awesome sci fi reference reference sir.

+25 points.

Big fan of the polish guys work. So looking forward to this title.