It's a whopping 6 million copies for The Witcher 3 in just 6 weeks. CD Projekt Red said in its statement that these figures were not something to brag about, but more than anything, to be thankful for - "that there's no sweeter sight than people enjoying their work." This might be the case, but the figures still translate that this is a remarkable feat, and not to mention, a sizeable profit; but the budget to develop the game is not something to undermine as well.
In six months, CD Projekt Red's net profit already reached $63.3 million. The story just keeps getting better from there. According to VG 24/7, "two more expansions are in development for the RPG: Heart of Stone and Blood & Wine. Sixteen pieces of free DLC have been released since launch." Add to this, out of that 6 million, 1 million was activated through GOG - the developer's homegrown digital distribution platform.
With these figures, of course players would want to know how much it cost for the developer to do Witcher 3. Eurogamer stated, "CD Projekt also revealed the game's development budget as 306m PLN (£53m). It said it had made a net profit of 236m PLN (£41m) during the first-half of 2015."
Kotaku, on the other hand, sort of made an analysis about all these. Witcher 3 is obviously a good video game, as good video games sells. It added, "The Witcher 3 is an entirely singleplayer experience. It's Good Old Game release is free of DRM. It received a bunch of free DLC. It took four years to come out, rather than being rushed to fit an annual release schedule."
And this might be the formula to create a "good" video game. Indeed, six million individuals might have preferred to play the game in their solitude, without those demands to compete, to share, or to show off. The report ended with somewhat a note of thanks to the game's developer. "It's fantastic that in 2015 a company was willing to still put time and money into making something as grand, generous and personal as The Witcher 3."
And the feeling is quite mutual. Parts of the statement issued by the CD Projekt Red said: "Everyone here in CD Projekt Red is really attached to their work and how you, the gamers, perceive it...Yes, six million copies is a great achievement for a company making RPGs, but this business is not only about that...If our games are a gallery of sound, picture and text - you are the visitors of this gallery. To an artist, there's no sweeter sight than people enjoying their work. That's why, in the name of all the devs in the studio, I'd like to say thanks to each and every one of you."
Join the Conversation