CD Projekt RED partners with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to bring The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to North America

[Marcin Momot]

CD Projekt RED partners with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to bring The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to North America

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment will be responsible for the distribution and promotion of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in North America.
The premiere of The Witcher 3 is the most important event in CD Projekts history. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment is an extremely valuable partner for us because of their experience and established position on the American market, which is crucial to CD Projekts further rapid development. Were very happy that our partners share our faith in The Witcher 3s success and are ready to become fully engaged in providing promotion and sales support for the franchise in North America - said Adam Kiciński, President, CD Projekt.
The Witcher 3 is among the most anticipated games of 2014 and one of the most promising RPGs scheduled for release on next generation hardware, said Kevin Kebodeaux, Senior Vice President, Sales, Americas, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. We are very pleased to continue our partnership working with CD Projekt on the Witcher franchise, which aligns with our goals to deliver quality experiences to gamers.
The third installment of the Witcher saga will be released in 2014 for the PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One all-in-one gaming and entertainment system.

 

[alextyc1]

Well good luck
Cant wait already for 2014

 

[Demut]

So ... does this announcement mean anything in particular for us?

 

[clst]

well and good luck . but it's not luck it's paid for all the work they have done. most anticipated game of 2014 . buy at gog and on collector edtion like the 2 and the 1 ( the last i buy only the collector)

 

[ballowers100]

Please tell me the physical boxed version of the PC version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt sold at brick and mortar retailer stores will be Digital Rights Management (DRM) free no copy protection software of any type meaning no CD Keys, SecuROM and Steam, Steam Works.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has a history of having Digital Rights Management (DRM) copy protection software on the physical boxed versions of the PC versions of video games that they sold at brick and mortar retailer stores. F.E.A.R. 3 is one example it has Steam Works Batman: Arkham City is another example as well it has Games for Windows Live (GFWL) with Steam Works. I hope CD Projekt RED has full control over this :/. I hope a employee at CD Projekt RED can clarify this clearly. If they still retain full control over this or if the publisher does.

 

[EmperorZorn]

So ... does this announcement mean anything in particular for us?

For us ? Not really.
But I guess US residents can rejoice.

 

[Demut]

Hrm, I mean we all knew that they would find a publishers, that’s not the issue. I just thought that getting Warner Bros. in particular on board entailed something specific, that’s why I asked ...

Please tell me the physical boxed version of the PC version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt sold at brick and mortar retailer stores will be Digital Rights Management (DRM) free no copy protection software of any type meaning no CD Keys, SecuROM and Steam, Steam Works.

I second this. If this will have SecuROM like TW2 I won’t buy a boxed copy this time either and that’d make me really sad GOG is great and all but I just don’t really like digital copies.

 

[Sam44]

I second this. If this will have SecuROM like TW2 I won’t buy a boxed copy this time either and that’d make me really sad /> GOG is great and all but I just don’t really like digital copies.

The enhanced edition one i have doesnt have any DRM at all.

 

[ballowers100]

Hrm, I mean we all knew that they would find a publishers, that’s not the issue. I just thought that getting Warner Bros. in particular on board entailed something specific, that’s why I asked ...


I second this. If this will have SecuROM like TW2 I won’t buy a boxed copy this time either and that’d make me really sad /> GOG is great and all but I just don’t really like digital copies.

I forgot about that. I own the physical boxed version of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and SeucROM on it pisses me off. But CD Projekt RED did patch it out in a patch 2.0 I think?

 

[ballowers100]

The enhanced edition one i have doesnt have any DRM at all.

Well someone clarified that's the version I have.

 

[Demut]

The enhanced edition one i have doesnt have any DRM at all.

Errr, yeah, but that one was released a year after the initial launch. I don’t want to wait twelve grueling months to play my boxed copy of The Witcher 3.

 

[ballowers100]

Errr, yeah, but that one was released a year after the initial launch. I don’t want to wait twelve grueling months to play my boxed copy of The Witcher 3.

Same here I want to buy the physical boxed version the day it is released.

 

[Sam44]

Errr, yeah, but that one was released a year after the initial launch. I don’t want to wait twelve grueling months to play my boxed copy of The Witcher 3.

Well who knows, They might just do the launch version DRM free already.
It isnt such a big deal for me anyway, I just wont be able to lend it to my friends so easily.

 

[AsTheDeath]

The physical edition of TW2 launched with DRM, but the very first patch (1.1, released within 10 days of the game's release) removed DRM on all editions of the game. I expect that this pretty much is the worst case scenario for TW3: either physical editions will launch without DRM, or it will be removed in a very quick patch.

 

[volsung]

I don't think WB is particularly adamant on enforcing DRM on all games. For example, Bastion was published by WB and I got it DRM-free AND for Linux on a Humble Bundle. The Witcher 3 will be a major release, so who knows.

If WB is smart they won't play another Atari and demand DRM for the retail version. CDPR took the DRM out since patch 1.1, a few weeks after the initial release. So I don't see a point really.

 

[cmdr_silverbolt]

Well, regardless I'll be buying 8 copies of TW3, for myself and immediate family. They will play it and like it, dammit

 

[Demut]

I wanna be that rich :<

The physical edition of TW2 launched with DRM, but the very first patch (1.1, released within 10 days of the game's release) removed DRM on all editions of the game. I expect that this pretty much is the worst case scenario for TW3: either physical editions will launch without DRM, or it will be removed in a very quick patch.

The latter would still mean that our boxed copies will contain DRM. That we can probably remove it at some point in the future via a patch which we have to download from the Internet is irrelevant to this. That won’t remove the DRM from the DVD.

 

[ballowers100]

I don't think WB is particularly adamant on enforcing DRM on all games. For example, Bastion was published by WB and I got it DRM-free AND for Linux on a Humble Bundle. The Witcher 3 will be a major release, so who knows.

If WB is smart they won't play another Atari and demand DRM for the retail version. CDPR took the DRM out since patch 1.1, a few weeks after the initial release. So I don't see a point really.

I don't understand by what you mean Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment won't play another Atari? The physical boxed version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt sold at brick and mortar retailer stores must be Digital Rights Management (DRM) free I don't want to wait 1 year for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Enhanced Edition I want to buy The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt the day it releases and then The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Enhanced Edition a year later to add to my collection.

 

[vivaxardas2015]

You'll probably have back up copies from GOG right away, so you can have your DRM free digital version as well. Not a big deal to have DRM on a disk in such situation. And you can always give your relatives and friends GOG copy on a flash drive.

WB is a large distributor, so it will be a major NA release, with a large advertisement budget from the publishers. Good for CPR. It seems E3 had a major impact.

 

[adridu59]

So CD Projekt will not be opening a PR Office in North America as it was planned on the roadmap?

Looks like marketing is crucial in this part of the globe.