GDC 12: Marcin Iwiński’s talk now available for download

[Marcin Momot]

GDC 12: Marcin Iwiński’s talk now available for download

Yesterday we informed you about CD Projekt RED Joint CEO Marcin Iwiński giving a talk at this year’s GDC. Today, minutes after the panel has ended, we are presenting you with a .pdf file with a whole presentation on how to sell over a million copies of an exclusive PC game in just a few months.

Of course these are just slides without any additional commentary, however GDC participants will be able to download the full video from GDC Vault at later time. Interested in increasing your game’s odds of success in the market? This document is for you!

 

[gregski]

Thanks. At first I was like "Whaaat? We wanted a puppet show and we get a PowerPoint in PDF!?!?!"

But yeah, I read it and it's quite an interesting insight. I also feel it kinda brings CDPR even closer to gamers, letting us know some of the "kitchen secrets"...I don't know, it feels honest.

Also, those spreadsheets are cool

 

[wikktor2]

I got excited when i saw financal table... but its not actual data
Nice presentation. Sometimes i even prefer to read... I have know most of it after all.

 

[m4x1u]

Thanks, this was an interesting read.

 

[GuyNwah]

Well done.

A lot of it is restating things that in hindsight should be obvious. But with businessmen, you can never restate the obvious too many times, and even then some of them will miss the point when it comes time to execute those lessons.

Knowing your market is the first key. Many well-meaning critics of the Witcher games miss the importance of that. You will not be everything to everybody. But you can be the Best Thing to Some People, and doing that well and consistently is a very good living.

"When the man dances... the piper pays him!"*

* "Rock Island" (Meredith Willson, The Music Man)

 

[DelighfulMcCoy]

Mhm. Quite interesting.

But... if you, after all your experience with the original Witcher and these forums, still think that your market is exclusively, or even mainly, male, I feel almost offended and find myself thinking we should maybe withdraw our girly purses the next time around...

 

[Mohasz]

Hm...was really interesting to read, I "loved" the part with the mistakes.
Btw, can we expect a new dev diary tomorrow?

 

[eskiMoe]

blahblahblah

But jokes aside, it was an interesting read. I wish some other devs out there had an attitude like this towards game development, customer support and the industry in general.

Kudos CDPR. Continue like this and I'll keep supporting you. Just like in the past.

 

[username_3236168]

I'm gonna buy the Witcher 2 again(enhanced edition), I really can't think of a developer better than CDPR

 

[gregski]

I'm gonna buy the Witcher 2 again(enhanced edition), I really can't think of a developer better than CDPR

The closer the release, I'm more and more tempted to buy a second copy, on Xbox this time.

So I can play Iorveth & Roche's path simultainously

 

[Corylea.723]

MALE?! ALL your players are male? I don't think so!

Petra Silie has been a moderator here for more than four years, has translated numerous witcher-related things into German, and has generally been a huge booster of all things witcher, and she's a woman.

Hexenmeister Raven took third place in your Djinni contest by making a new adventure that fans are still enjoying today, and she's a woman.

Game Widow has been working on your wiki DAILY for years and years, and she's a woman.

Secondchildren is a moderator, started a Witcher-themed Deviant Art group, and translated the wiki into Italian, and she's a woman.

Dona's gathering of fan-made artworks from all over was recently mentioned by the president of CDPR, himself, and she's a woman.

Darksavior has written reams of witcher-themed fan fiction, and she's a woman.

Arkray made the adventure "Poet's Pride," and she's a woman.

Delightful McCoy made a popular mod for TW2 that gives Geralt his white hair back, and she's a woman.

Dragonbird has made several popular mods for TW2, and she's a woman.

Cassandra is translating Sapkowski's books into Greek, and she's a woman.

I've made three adventures, fixed several bugs in TW1, helped stuck players for years, and made a bunch of little mods, and I'm a woman.


The Witcher world would be a hell of a lot poorer without its female fans. Don't sell us short.

Hrmph. Reconsidering that automatic pre-order of TW3, here.

 

[secondchildren]

Yeah... you-mean... you forget your female-nerd crew

What did we do to you?

 

[not_slimgrin]

Ladies...this is just a reality, not a snub to the female fans of The Witcher, whom we all adore. I can all but guarantee many more men then women bought TW2.

 

[Dona.794]

@DelightfulMcCoy, Corylea, secondchildren

I noticed that too and couldn't help but feel a bit offended. Time to finish my article about TW and women :|

Ladies...this is just a reality, not a snub to the female fans of The Witcher, whom we all adore. I can all but guarantee many more men then women bought TW2.

Because it was marketed to men and females are still shy about getting involved in the gaming community because of the treatment they receive (not in this particular community, but globally). And they won't start buying these games if they keep alienating them. A vicious circle, that one!

(LOL at this being posted on International Women's Day...)

 

[Corylea.723]

Ladies...this is just a reality,

No, it's NOT a reality. They say that the people who buy their games are male, period, end of story. They don't say that 60% of them are male or 70% of them are male or whatever the actual percentage is.

"Everybody knows" that gamers are young men, even though the most recent data we have available says that the average gamer is 37 and that 42% of gamers are female.

Don't want to sell to that 42%? Keep pretending that they don't exist, and they'll buy somebody else's games.

 

[secondchildren]

(LOL at this being posted on International Women's Day...)

This

I propose to send to Iwinki a giant poster (via email) of TW all signed by the female-Witcher community, Intern and Polish, in pink ink.
Like

XOXO

by

Corylea
Game Widow
Dona
dragonbird
secondchildren
undomiel
...

etc

 

[not_slimgrin]

I'm not about to embark on a crusade here, *BUT* how in the hell would you market TW2 to women? Remember, this is coming from the guy who plays female in all his RPG's when given the chance.

- male badass protagonist.
- lotsa sex with pretty ladies, some of them whores.
- set in the 1200's when women were met with suspicion not respect. I know it's fiction, but the influence of historical reality weighs heavily on the flavor of this game.

* All this said, I respect the women on this site, and of course the people Cory listed. My experience in both Witcher games would have been lacking without their contributions.

 

[tommy5761]

I`m sure there was no offense intended by the article and kudos to all you ladies who enjoy the witcher series just as much as the male counterparts do , i think that alone speaks volumes ! But i think they are looking at the grand scheme of things when that was done . It`s just like when car manufacturers develop a highly sophisticated sports car with all the bells and whistles . Will women buy that sports car...sure they will but the predominately purchaser will be men . I surely do not mean to degrade women and hope that this is not offensive in any way but just giving you ladies one more perspective of a way to view it . Maybe a car isn`t the best way to describe what i`m trying to say but it`s all i got at the moment .

 

[Dona.794]

Slim, I'm finishing up my article atm but it might take a few hours, so here's a brief version

- women love male protagonists, in case you haven't noticed
- oh my, are we back in middle ages where sex is purely for man's pleasure? right, women absolutely hate sex. I am so sorry I forgot this invaluable information :[
- FICTIONAL 1200s. TW games are full of anachronisms. a woman like Saskia couldn't be a leader that easily in realistic 1200s, but it happened in the game.

@Tommy
It is ALL about society, culture and the standards. Men don't buy lipsticks because they aren't marketed to them, but they probably would if there was no social shaming involved. If they were told they are beautiful rocking that new Viva La Glam by Lady Gaga or wearing the new shiny eyeliner~
There's a huge movement of women fighting for equality in gaming circles going on right now, our dear CDPR folks may as well ride the wave. They don't need to change the game to appeal to women - quite the contrary, take us seriously for once and you'll get customers for life.

 

[not_slimgrin]

Let's just remember one important fact: Bioware and its vocal fan base. I think we all know this tale: the developer who tries to please everyone, so they end up shoehorning politically correct bits into their games. It all comes across as superficial, forced. Sorry, but in my humble opinion CDPR's vision is priority, at the expense of everything else.