CD Projekt RED CEO Talks The Witcher 3 Sales and Piracy

During an interview-style presentation at infoShare 2016 that focused on the lessons learned from the development of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, CD Projekt RED joint CEO Marcin Iwiński shared some interesting information on the title and CD Projekt’s overall outlook. The Polish developer confirmed that The Witcher series has sold about 20 million copies and added that the significant jump in copies sold is largely due to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which sold almost 10 million copies almost by itself.

Iwiński touched on many other topics during the talk, such as the studio’s unwillingness to involve itself in worldbuilding (which is the reason they have only worked on licensed properties so far) and the company’s attitude concerning piracy. He stated that the company “believe[s] in the carrot, not the stick” and that rather than attempting to pursue pirates directly, they prefer to offer enough value to legitimate customers and create goodwill towards the company.

Iwiński noted that this shouldn’t be mistaken for a favorable view of piracy, and while he artfully dodged the subject, it is worth noting that this hasn’t always been CD Projekt’s approach. In the past, the company attempted to fine those who shared The Witcher 2 illegally, though ultimately they decided to stop. While I absolutely do not condone piracy, I appreciate their change of attitude, and I’m very glad to see that Iwiński’s 2012 appeal to player didn’t fall on deaf ears. He originally asked players to not be silent about piracy and, lo and behold, that’s exactly what he talks about in the video, noting that plenty of players online react disdainfully when the notion of pirating The Witcher titles is mentioned.

You can watch the full video embedded below:

Spotted on Kotaku.