The Witcher 3 Devs on Game Length

CD Projekt RED’s Germany studio communications manager Fabian Mario Doehla discussed the playtime estimates for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt with Polygon. We learn that a playthrough of The Witcher 3 might last anywhere from 25 to 200 hours but also, arguably more importantly, where those figures come from:

So how does CD Projekt Red determine the average playtime of a sprawling, partially optional game like The Witcher 3? In short, by accounting for the bias of unusually experienced playtesters.

“We have playtesters in who have not played the game,” Doehla told Polygon. “We’re trying to build an average and say, ‘Well, you can actually spend 100-plus hours in the game, even if you’re not a slow player, just by playing side-quests and getting lost in side-quests.'”

Is 100 hours a reasonable assumption? Again, it depends. Doehla offered The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s prologue as another example of the malleable nature of time inside the game. He’s seen players fly through in 40 minutes and watched others spend four or five hours.

He knows someone who’s played 200 hours of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and still hasn’t seen all the content.