The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Interview

PC Invasion recently chatted up CD Projekt RED art producer Stan Just about the success of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, a few aspects regarding the RPG’s development, what the future holds for the monster-slayer Geralt of Rivia, and more. A taste:

PCI: Some of the other big CRPGs which have come out recently have been criticised for having a lot of running about herb gathering. The Witcher 3 avoided this with replenishable master items. What’s the process at CD Projekt RED for making those iterations?

SJ: All usability improvements are the result of our internal tests and discussions with gameplay department. For example, I proposed a mechanic and suggested button mapping for quick sign switching without entering the circle menu on a gamepad. The team considered my request, accepted it, and it later landed in the game. I guess the openness to other opinions is what helped us improve this game so much.

The keys to ensuring quality were, most importantly, very rigid reviews from the Studio’s Head, Game Director and all Team Leads. Those reviews were the source of changes that allowed us to improve everything that was improved already hundred times. That’s how you make a 90+ game. You iterate and iterate, and iterate, and ask for more time.

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PCI: Purely speculatively, will we see any more games involving Geralt after this?

SJ: Wild Hunt is the conclusion of his adventures, so I’d send him for a well-earned vacation he’s slain so many monsters he deserves a rest.