Witcher 3 - Interview @ Game Pressure

Here is an interview for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt from a site called Game Pressure with Adam Badowski, Managing Director of CD Projekt RED. He talks about PC vs Consoles.

How did the development team respond, when during that key phase of the development, a period of another three intensive months was added? Were they relieved, or would they rather already be done with the game?

Honestly, I really enjoy talking about the atmosphere within our studio, and have nothing to hide. Surely, the entire team is working really hard, and with such a large group, despite what you may think, not many people have direct contact with the final version, nor do they have a time to play it. Basically, the team is consumed with fixing bugs, and doesn’t really know about the actual phase of the production. When the delay was announced to the developing team, the first reaction was the fear of letting our fans down. However, the disappointment didn’t come from the fact that we have more months of hard work ahead, as many believed that we would make it in time. Obviously, there were some who were tired, as a delay meant more months to be spent working on the project. Everyone wants to do their best, but with such hard challenges it’s not merely a matter of wishful thinking – it means that even more effort must be put in. What is more, the state of the game is unpredictable, the Witcher 3 is so complicated, that we get surprised on a daily basis. Even presentation to the press has revealed to us several things we have yet to improve.

How many people are working on the game?

At the moment, it’s about 230 people.

The process has reached its’ pinnacle?

Yes. As of now it’s a ‘all hands on deck’ kind of stage, so even the developers that aren’t involved in specific tasks, became testers. They are the best for verifying, as they now really their stuff. Graphic artists and designers notice different things.

As it has been officially stated, Your delaying the game to ‘limit any bugs to a level that will allow you to enjoy the game thoroughly’. Does experience with previous Witchers and Enhanced Editions change the initial state of your game?

Obviously, we are making the product available on all platforms, including consoles, that can work offline – so the player doesn’t have to download a day one patch to run the game. We are trying to solve as many problems as possible until the release date. We will also use that time to send the game to certification, and we intend to work on patches, but when it comes to those, we are talking about minor repairs, if any at all.