Witcher Dev Opening Second Studio for "Smaller" Games

[StewShearerOld]

Witcher Dev Opening Second Studio for "Smaller" Games

CD Projekt RED is opening a new studio in Krakow, Poland hoping to produce smaller scale "premium" games.

It would hard to blame you if someone were to mention CD Projekt RED and your mind, in turn, were to drift to big games. The developer behind the epic Witcher series and the upcoming RPG <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122567-CD-Projekt-Aims-to-Refresh-the-Cyberpunk-Setting>Cyberpunk 2077, the developer has built its reputation on huge titles with tremendous replay value. Hoping to branch out however, CD Projekt RED will soon be opening a second studio in Krakow, Poland where it hopes to make games that are slightly smaller in scope.

"We are opening an office Krakow," said Adam Badowski, managing director CD Projekt RED. "Aside from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077, the studio aims to develop two smaller (approximately 20h of gameplay) premium quality titles." The team in Krakow, which will be about twenty people in size, will be given dominion over these two new titles.

Setting aside the fact that twenty hours of gameplay is still pretty long compared to what other studios often offer, it's hard not to be excited about the prospect of new and perhaps differently styled content coming out of CD Projekt RED. The developer arguably made one of the best RPGs of this generation in <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/8905-The-Witcher-2-Assassins-of-Kings-Review>The Witcher 2, and its future titles are already exciting many gamers. Smaller games made with the same dedication to quality that CD Projekt RED has already demonstrated are sure fire recipe for happy gamers, and hopefully even more prestige for the Polish studio.

Source: <a href=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/194483/CD_Projekt_RED_confirms_new_studio_opening_in_Krakow.php>Gamasutra


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[Abomination]

Stop making good strategic decisions, CDPR. You're making us English speaking nations look like idiots when it comes to game design.

 

[jurnag12]

Good to hear that they're doing well enough to open a second studio, and that those previously noted 2 games won't be taking any resources away from The Witcher and Cyberpunk.

 

[Jandau]

CDPR - "Our smaller games are still bigger than your AAA releases"

 

[CriticalMiss]

It says a lot about the studio that their 'smaller' titles are probably longer than entire franchises. Now we just need all of those other developers to look at them and do something similar.

 

[Fell]

So their games will have the same length as three call of duty games ?

 

[kael013]

While I was interested in the Cyberpunk game, I had never played a CDPR game until this weekend (Witcher Steam sale, why the fuck not?). After playing through a bit -a [i/]bit[/i]- of Witcher 1 all I can say is: Bring it on! I love long, involved, story-driven games; especially ones that are longer than the average AAA franchise.

 

[Dark Knifer]

That sounds cool, I haven't played one of their games but their reputation seems to suggest quality so hopefully this smaller studio can live up to the hype.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

It's so heartwarming to see a developer that brings such quality and value to their games without any anti consumer practice (that is pretty much standard these days), do so well for themselves.

And as people have said it's funny how their "small" games are still going to be twice as long as most games these days.

 

[nymz]

So their games will have the same length as three call of duty games ?

Because CoD doesn't have Spec Ops, Zombies and Multiplayer modes.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

While I was interested in the Cyberpunk game, I had never played a CDPR game until this weekend (Witcher Steam sale, why the fuck not?). After playing through a bit -a [i/]bit[/i]- of Witcher 1 all I can say is: Bring it on! I love long, involved, story-driven games; especially ones that are longer than the average AAA franchise.

wow most people are put off by the first witcher.

just don't expect the witcher 2 to be the same..they massively changed it up, but in a VERY good way.


OT: fuck yeah CDPR, get itttt

 

[Atlon]

Yes! There's no such thing as too many CDPR games; I cannot wait to see their care and skill put on "smaller" games, I'm so very interested in the results.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Is it just me, or is it still the 90's at CDProkekt's studios? Everything they do is DRM free, they give out massive DLCs as free patches, they focus on PC gaming, go out of their way to support mods, and apparently their idea of a short game is 20 hours long.


Yep, still the 90's, in a very, very good way.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

While I was interested in the Cyberpunk game, I had never played a CDPR game until this weekend (Witcher Steam sale, why the fuck not?). After playing through a bit -a [i/]bit[/i]- of Witcher 1 all I can say is: Bring it on! I love long, involved, story-driven games; especially ones that are longer than the average AAA franchise.

wow most people are put off by the first witcher.

just don't expect the witcher 2 to be the same..they massively changed it up, but in a VERY good way.


OT: fuck yeah CDPR, get itttt

Most people are put off by the first one? I'm playing it now and it's the best story/plot driven (as opposed to whatever the heck you'd call the things Bethesda makes. Environment driven?) RPG I've picked up since Final Fantasy VII. I tried out the tutorial of The Witcher 2 to make sure it would run on my computer, and I liked what I saw in the combat, but I find it hard to believe The Witcher is offputting to anyone who doesn't dislike the genre to begin with.

 

[Atlon]

Most people are put off by the first one? I'm playing it now and it's the best story/plot driven (as opposed to whatever the heck you'd call the things Bethesda makes. Environment driven?) RPG I've picked up since Final Fantasy VII. I tried out the tutorial of The Witcher 2 to make sure it would run on my computer, and I liked what I saw in the combat, but I find it hard to believe The Witcher is offputting to anyone who doesn't dislike the genre to begin with.

The first Witcher has some serious flaws, mostly a really sloppy combat and some issues in the quests, but I stil think it is a really great game. The fact is that I personally love having to explore and dig in on your own to get all the sweet tidbits of lore, and having my choices have real consequences was just immensely rewarding; but most gamers nowadays, I think, prefer rpgs that deliver the story in a more direct, and mostly linear but not necessarily, fashion.
So I don't find it hard to believe that many people simply do not get into The Witcher, and I understand them; what I fear is that this also prevents them from trying the second game, which is a whole other matter as for quality!

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Most people are put off by the first one? I'm playing it now and it's the best story/plot driven (as opposed to whatever the heck you'd call the things Bethesda makes. Environment driven?) RPG I've picked up since Final Fantasy VII. I tried out the tutorial of The Witcher 2 to make sure it would run on my computer, and I liked what I saw in the combat, but I find it hard to believe The Witcher is offputting to anyone who doesn't dislike the genre to begin with.

The first Witcher has some serious flaws, mostly a really sloppy combat and some issues in the quests, but I stil think it is a really great game. The fact is that I personally love having to explore and dig in on your own to get all the sweet tidbits of lore, and having my choices have real consequences was just immensely rewarding; but most gamers nowadays, I think, prefer rpgs that deliver the story in a more direct, and mostly linear but not necessarily, fashion.
So I don't find it hard to believe that many people simply do not get into The Witcher, and I understand them; what I fear is that this also prevents them from trying the second game, which is a whole other matter as for quality!

See, to me your description of The Witcher is a description of old school Western RPGs, while the second description... I don't know what I'd call it, but it's something new. Either that or just a spin on JRPGs. This is an example of exactly why niche genres were dying out before digital distribution and indie devs took off, and why I'm glad they did.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

While I was interested in the Cyberpunk game, I had never played a CDPR game until this weekend (Witcher Steam sale, why the fuck not?). After playing through a bit -a [i/]bit[/i]- of Witcher 1 all I can say is: Bring it on! I love long, involved, story-driven games; especially ones that are longer than the average AAA franchise.

wow most people are put off by the first witcher.

just don't expect the witcher 2 to be the same..they massively changed it up, but in a VERY good way.


OT: fuck yeah CDPR, get itttt

Most people are put off by the first one? I'm playing it now and it's the best story/plot driven (as opposed to whatever the heck you'd call the things Bethesda makes. Environment driven?) RPG I've picked up since Final Fantasy VII. I tried out the tutorial of The Witcher 2 to make sure it would run on my computer, and I liked what I saw in the combat, but I find it hard to believe The Witcher is offputting to anyone who doesn't dislike the genre to begin with.

well alot of people are combat whores, and the first one is definitely..."unique" in its choice in combat. (it didn't bug me to be honest) and the first part has a few very dry parts in the story/progression, but personally I did enjoy it very much. (and as seen before in threads, some people were VERY put off by the super small side mini micro nano sized minigame of sex card collection)