Witcher Studio Chief Vows No More DRM

[Andy Chalk]

Witcher Studio Chief Vows No More DRM

The experience of The Witcher 2 has led CD Projekt Red CEO Marcin Iwinski to declare unequivocally that the studio will never again use DRM in any of its games.

The guys at CD Projekt have never been shy about their feelings toward DRM: they don't like it. As far back as 2008 the company was espousing a remove it [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/86403-CD-Projekt-Encourages-Industry-To-Go-DRM-Free] two weeks after the game launched. And while that DRM may not have done much to keep pirates at bay, it turns out that it was very influential in one interesting and somewhat unexpected way.

"Every subsequent game we will never use any DRM anymore, it's just over-complicating things," Iwinski said at a GDC presentation.

Further convincing Iwinski of the futility of DRM is the fact that pirates ignored the GOG version of The Witcher 2, which was DRM-free at launch, and went after the SecuROM-protected retail release instead, almost as if they wanted to make a point. "They took the SecuROM retail version, cracked it and said 'we cracked it' - meanwhile there's a non-secure version with a simultaneous release," he continued. "You'd think the GOG version would be the one floating around."

It's easy to say "never again" when there's no pressure to actually follow through on it, and Iwinski might be forced to sing a different tune if CDPR ever signs a big deal with EA, Activision or, God forbid, Ubisoft. Releasing games on Steam adds a certain nuance to the "DRM: yes/no?" question too. But what it really comes down to is customer service, and if more developers and publishers treated their customers like CD Projekt, I think we'd all be better for it.

Source: Joystiq [http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/08/witcher-2-publisher-we-will-never-use-any-drm-anymore/]


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[CrazyBlaze]

DRM just does not work and these guys get it. Instead of making the people who the game jump through hoop after hoop, they decide to get it down right. CD Project. This one is for you.

 

[Thoric485]

In his talk at GDC Marcin Iwinski also points out that retailer-specific DLC is a bad practice that should be stopped. One of the first things TW2's patches did was add all that DLC for every player.

Of course that ruffled some retailer feathers, but CDP are one of the few who put their customers above that. It was also nice of them, due to community feedback, to stop their relations with that German law firm that cracks down on pirates.

And come April 17-th TW2's Enhanced Edition that adds up to 4 hours of new content, amidst other improvements will be available for free for all PC owners of the game.

Shame that an independent, progressive, moderately-sized studio with good company ethics is such a rarity nowadays. Used to be more of them.

 

[Antonio Torrente]

It's easy to say "never again" when there's no pressure to actually follow through on it, and Iwinski might be forced to sing a different tune if CDPR ever signs a big deal with EA, Activision or, God forbid, Ubisoft.

that thought scares me.

 

[UnderGlass]

What is cool is they seem to genuinely want to improve the whole experience of buying and playing a game. Understanding that producing and distributing media these days needs a holistic approach is great. That their role doesn't necessarily end once the box ships out the door. Particularly if one has an eye to selling us some dlc morsels down the line.

Personally I'm not fussed over a date-check and get why they would want to stop leaks of the game before the official release. With a totally DRM-free version released simultaneously on GOG I think we can believe them that it was there to benefit genuine customers. All other DRM on their games was imposed on them by third party distributors/publishers and it's nice to hear that they'll be standing their ground from now on.

 

[shadowmagus]

My only hope is that if they follow through and actually move forward with this plan that we as gamers reward them by buying their products rather then pirating it. Good companies making good games deserve our money, not exploitation.

 

[Jaeger_CDN]

I was going to buy Witcher 2 through Steam at first but when they announced the GOG version to be fully DRM-less I bought it directly from them.

I will gladly support a publisher/developer that gets DRM is a waste of data/time/money on a large release game. As a bonus, the fact that GOG and CDPR are the same means they get a full share of my purchase instead of a middle man (sorry Steam, but you have gotten fists full of my cash already).

I've also made a point of not buying games from companies (ie. UbiSoft) that steadfastly treat me like a criminal with my legitimately purchased product.

 

[Irridium]

Awesome. Hopefully they stick to it.

Wish more companies cared about their customers like they do. Can't wait for the big game update on April 17th.

 

[RuralGamer]

To be honest, I prefer their approach of going after those who pirated it, rather than punishing those who didn't; I wish more devs and publishers (I'd prefer more devs to be publishers at the same time) would admit that DRM is ultimately not working.

 

[geizr]

Hell! Now I want to go out and buy Witcher 2 just to support these guys; sounds like they get it. DRM is nothing but snake oil: it adds costs for customers, it adds costs for developers, and it doesn't stop pirates at all. I don't like piracy at all either, and I have made clear my feelings on the matter numerous times (don't pirate, just don't buy it). However, most of the DRM out there (Steam being the apparent exception) is just absolutely poor customer service, and, at the heart, the piracy problem is more a customer service issue than it is a criminal issue.

Honestly, any company or executive that seriously has the temerity to claim that DRM increases product value and improves customer service really needs to stop, because the empirical experience for any customer has been almost unanimously the exact opposite. You are not doing yourself any favors by fabricating claims that are contradicted by overwhelming majority empirical evidence.

 

[Meight08]

Unfortunately, DRM was never the issue with The Witcher 2. Being developed as a console game through and through - poorly - was the issue.

But, credit where credit is due, these guys have more of a collective brain than most others.

Did you pull that out of your ass?
The witcher 2 is a PC rpg through and through why would the console version come out later if it was a console game?

 

[Pipotchi]

I have bought witcher twice through Steam and gifted it as I have already played it through. CD Project deserve the revenue for not treating their market as potential criminals (even though some of them are so).

Good for them I say

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Hopefully CDProjekt and the RED studio will remain reputable enough that they'll never have to sign a deal with any of the larger publishers.

 

[Meight08]

Unfortunately, DRM was never the issue with The Witcher 2. Being developed as a console game through and through - poorly - was the issue.

But, credit where credit is due, these guys have more of a collective brain than most others.

Did you pull that out of your ass?
The witcher 2 is a PC rpg through and through why would the console version come out later if it was a console game?

I pulled that out of the countless design decisions, including the radial action wheel, list-based inventory with countless filters, the complete change of the control scheme from mouse-oriented to what pretty much all 3rd person action adventure games use and them saying they're working on a console version right after publishing the PC one.

1:10 years ago it was okay to release a game made for a joystick and have the kb/m version be an utter mess.
How is releasing a game now intended with a gamepad in mind any different or worse?
2:the action orientation was done because they wanted to spice things up.

 

[80Maxwell08]

Unfortunately, DRM was never the issue with The Witcher 2. Being developed as a console game through and through - poorly - was the issue.

But, credit where credit is due, these guys have more of a collective brain than most others.

Did you pull that out of your ass?
The witcher 2 is a PC rpg through and through why would the console version come out later if it was a console game?

Um even on the witcher forums a lot of people acknowledge that this was designed with consoles in mind from DX9 to everything Hammeroj said in his response. The topic comes up a lot on their forums. Also if you are wondering why he said that when the PC version came out first they know how to program on PC not 360 that's why they are only bringing it to the 360 right now they don't have the manpower to do both so they chose one.

 

[Rad Party God]

I still need to buy this game, but then again, I highly doubt my PC could run it properly. Until I upgrade my PC, I'll throw all of my money to GOG/CDPR to test this baby on my new rig.

 

[80Maxwell08]

I still need to buy this game, but then again, I highly doubt my PC could run it properly. Until I upgrade my PC, I'll throw all of my money to GOG/CDPR to test this baby on my new rig.

Well you could get the 360 version too. Won't look as good but still the same game.