As to when fans will finally be able to experience Wild Hunt themselves remains to be seen.
“Of course we have a launch window in mind, we’re just not telling,” Kwiatkowski says jokingly. “On a more serious note though, we’re one of those companies that believe in the ‘it’s ready when it’s ready’ thing. This stems both from our respect to gamers and the fact we just won’t release a game that does not represent the quality we want it to represent. It’s a simple thing, really: we want gamers to feel that their hard-earned money is well spent.”
http://www.examiner.com/article/the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-how-xbox-one-and-ps4-have-freed-cd-projekt-red?cid=PROG-GamesBlock1-Article-TW3Full
“Of course we have a launch window in mind, we’re just not telling,” Kwiatkowski says jokingly. “On a more serious note though, we’re one of those companies that believe in the ‘it’s ready when it’s ready’ thing. This stems both from our respect to gamers and the fact we just won’t release a game that does not represent the quality we want it to represent. It’s a simple thing, really: we want gamers to feel that their hard-earned money is well spent.”
http://www.examiner.com/article/the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-how-xbox-one-and-ps4-have-freed-cd-projekt-red?cid=PROG-GamesBlock1-Article-TW3Full
Guys, let's return to the topic I proposed in the OP. Please let's stop discussing the timing of marketing campaign, as it's clear that CDPR has a strategy in that respect to which they want to stick (and, imo, this strategy is very reasonable; this, of course, can be argued against, but it was already done extensively, and we even have an answer from the devs). So let's just try to help CDPR by proposing some specific things which might help in the campaign, like my example from the OP (again, I don't say that I'm sure that my suggestion from the OP is viable, it's up to CDPR to decide if it is useful; however, I think that proposing things like that to CDPR here might actually help, since some of them may turn out to be useful).
Good point @jerf, I'd like to see Geralt at bus stations, billboards, newspapers and at the youtube's main site
Last edited:
I'll just say that the recent sale on Steam is what got me into TW1, which got me to replay TW2, and now I am totally hooked on the series. So I think that was a very successful promotion, at least it was for me.
I know this isn't totally marketing related, but I think TW3 would build up a lot of hype on PC, if it included Steam workshop. I know CDPR runs GOG and they are not fans of Steam DRM, but I do think that integration into Steam workshop would get a lot of Steam/PC gamers attention.
I know this isn't totally marketing related, but I think TW3 would build up a lot of hype on PC, if it included Steam workshop. I know CDPR runs GOG and they are not fans of Steam DRM, but I do think that integration into Steam workshop would get a lot of Steam/PC gamers attention.
Well, look. My best friend back in Russia is still undecided about the game for instance, he has an old GTX 560 TI card (everything else is up-to date since I sent him some modest PC components). He is still not sure if he should start saving up just for this game and saving up for a new video card. He said he will torrent the game first (as most of them do in Eastern Europe, unfortunately) and see how it runs first. I told him I would buy the game for him instead. He said it wasn't necessary because he may not want to play the game on minimum.
That, and he really isn't a big witcher fan to begin with. All he knows is that it's open world and the other week he asked me about combat which is his most worrisome aspect. He stumped me with that question because I didn't know what to answer. So I said it should be like the one in TW2 only now we have 96 combat moves as opposed to 20..... Go figure that out.
Now, the question is, is he an exception or the rule? Most gamers in Eastern Europe (primarily PC gamers) will simply steal the game once its on torrents even if they barely know any information about it. That I already know. Now, the gamers in Western Europe (both PC and console owners) will likely buy the game as long as it doesn't compete too much with Watch Dogs/Division/Dragon Age or what have you. The witcher is still relatively unknown in the US, so I fear that the long silence from CDPR at this point may not have spread enough awareness.
Keep in mind that most game sales happen within the first few months of the game release. We may not know too much about Division/Dragon Age but in some aspects we know more about those games than the witcher because let's admit, a picture (video) says a thousand (million) words. Anyone remember why Watch Dogs won as the best E3 2013 game at gamespot, even know by a small margin over TW3 and The Division? I BET it was because of abundance of gameplay videos. Common gamers simply saw what they wanted most. Had they seen the closed door W3 presentation video perhaps they would change their mind.
What we know about TW3 so far are mostly technical aspects of the game, the little peculiarities - something that predominantly the fans know and are concerned about. Gameplay videos is what draws the crowds and as shawn_kh mentioned what we have had so far is not enough given that we have at most 9 months left before the release date. Having said all that, a large portion of us loved the Witcher before it was cool. But we are a very very very small gaming minority, I can attest to that.
The bottom line is I think CDPR should start their marketing yesterday.
I agree with you to some extent(that part bout piracy) but I think that the fact we haven't seen the gameplay yet, means that there is still a lot of time till the premiere. Thus, be patient because the information about the release date will be crucial for new materials and the whole game. From my perspective, it's the matter of days.
Fully agreed with every point that you make there TheMorbidAtheist. It amazes me how much of a difference there is between the current approach of TW3 when compared to that of Inquisition for example. The latter gets semi weekly updates with small details to keep you hungry for more and bigger reveals every now and then to keep things exciting. The result of that is not a spoiled game like some gamers might fear, it does however give us a fairly accurate image of what to expect of Inquisition and most of its key features.
I would be lying if I said that I could not describe TW3 but most of my story would be based on what I think is how the game will be along with the features listed on the site.
I would be lying if I said that I could not describe TW3 but most of my story would be based on what I think is how the game will be along with the features listed on the site.
@TheMorbidAtheist I really don't understand the point you're trying to make. Your friend can start saving up money and decide later, when the gameplay trailers start coming in, if he wants to continue saving cash. The money will still be in his possession, he's allowed to spend them on something else, they won't disappear.
As for Watch Dogs winning over The Witcher 3 on gamespot, TW3 won the IGN awards, which is an even bigger mainstream website, so I don't see how that's a valid argument. Are you suggesting that TW3 should be winning each and every award, because that's impossible, I'm afraid. What CDPR have achieved in terms of recognition - numerous nominations and awards for most anticipated game, decided both by fans and critics - given their limited monetary resources, is nothing short of remarkable.
As a side note, we actually know a lot more about the combat and how it's going to work than what you told your friend.
As for Watch Dogs winning over The Witcher 3 on gamespot, TW3 won the IGN awards, which is an even bigger mainstream website, so I don't see how that's a valid argument. Are you suggesting that TW3 should be winning each and every award, because that's impossible, I'm afraid. What CDPR have achieved in terms of recognition - numerous nominations and awards for most anticipated game, decided both by fans and critics - given their limited monetary resources, is nothing short of remarkable.
As a side note, we actually know a lot more about the combat and how it's going to work than what you told your friend.
To react on that last bit, we know very little of the actual combat itself. A month or so ago they stated that they were still seeing what worked and what did not and besides a fair bit of promise about how the combat will be better we have not seen anything in action. Also before you say it, no, I do not count those 10 seconds (if that) in the VGX trailer to be a demonstration of how the actual combat works. Most of the information we have is from old previews/builds and may very well be outdated by now.
Last edited:
All I said is that we know more than the fact that it has more animations ("So I said it should be like the one in TW2 only now we have 96 combat moves as opposed to 20"). Personally, I need to actually play the game to find out if the combat suits me, no amount of gameplay footage will tell me that.
People in developing countries, even those who work, predominantly are on the budget, we all know that. As of now he has little incentive to save for a video card because he lives pay check to pay check to say the least. It took him a year to save up for a 3 year old video card. He can run most recent games on medium to low, and rarely on high settings. At this point, people "over there" mostly can't afford the game and even if they could they don't want to pay for a game that they will at best be able to run on minimum settings....and a game that they can get for free without repercussions. But gaming is a luxury, not a right. So he, as a PC gamer, is in the minority. When I asked my console gaming friends here in NY a couple of months ago about the W3 they knew NOTHING about the game (IGN or not). One guy is 14 years old, another is 38 years old, the other two are 28 and 30 - none of them had TW3 on their wish list not because they wouldn't enjoy it necessarily but because of the general absence of gameplay videos compared to the other big boys. All they were waiting for was Watch Dogs, Dragon Age Inquisition, TitanFall and whatever else - and these are the guys who are driving the gaming industry. These are the guys because of whom we still do not have GTA 5 on PC (I will disregard piracy since GTA IV and Max Payne 3 came out on PC).
True. I remember that. For me, GS community, as immature as it can be quite often, is a marginal representation of the average US gamers mentality, but maybe it's just bias. I won't say anything further...
Right, so what else could I possibly tell him to describe the combat and how long would it take me to describe it exactly? a five second combat video would do more justice than me attempting to describe something I haven't seen myself yet.
An interesting thought but there are some potential problems with that. It is an open world game after all and that means deciding what kind of content goes in said demo to offer an experience as to what the full game is like. You could make a special bit of gameplay just for a demo but that takes a lot of time and money to produce. If the demo were to show a fair bit of the features it would have to be one big demo.
Not necessarily . A 1 to 2 GB demo would be enough . Similar to the KoA , Batman AA or ME3 demos . Just enough to get a glimpse of combat and a little bit of story . For those who are just getting into the series or wondering what combat would be like . Witcher 1 had a demo that contained the entire 1st act .
Last edited:
Not sure what most of this has to do with the bit you quoted.
Anyway, if he's considering starting to save up, then that clearly means he has a good enough income to do so. Gameplay footage will not magically spawn extra money for him. In a month or two, when he sees some more footage, should he decide that TW3 is not to his liking, he would still have access to that money.
Does not change the fact that there is more information available than what you've told your friend, which was the point I was making. You not sharing it with him is a different matter entirely.
Last edited:
I suppose so, my guess is that the tutorial and the opening bit after that would make for a decent enough experience as what to expect, also to know what kind of performance if we are looking at the pc version.
Well, some of it clutter and fluff but what I was trying to say is that people with little means need extra time to start saving IF they feel they need saving for a game like TW3 that is. I never intended to demonstrate that he would have money magically in his pocket when the first gameplay footage appears. He put away 20 dollars a month or so for his video card. Last time I spoke to him on skype he was wondering if he should start saving up again for TW3 since that's all I talk about.
Ok, so I will ask you a less rhetorical question this time. How would you answer his question to get him interested?
Exactly . Besides what better way is there to introduce the PS4 and XB1 players to the franchise .