‘The Witcher 3 proves players want longer games’

The developer behind The Witcher 3 says the game’s success is a prime example of high demand for longer, deeper triple-A titles.

In an interview with MCV, visual effects artist Jose Teixeira says that the hundreds of hours’ worth of content CD Project Red poured into the action RPG has not deterred players from exploring every nook and cranny of its fantasy world.

The studio spent £53m developing The Witcher 3 and even delayed the game’s release in order to achieve the level of polish it desired – and it paid off. The game has sold six million copies in its first six weeks.

“If anything, The Witcher 3 proved the point that players are more interested in longer games,” Teixeira told MCV.

“Now, especially, you hear so many people talking about how the triple-A games industry is there and nobody wants that experience anymore, and here you go – a nice, well-written single-player experience. There’s no multiplayer, there’s no microtransactions; you get a game, you play the game and enjoy the game, and it’s a great success.”

The team has continued adding even more content to the game in the form of DLC expansions, the first of which – Hearts of Stone – was released this week. Again, Teixeira says the studio is aiming to give players more value for their money by releasing longer expansions than those typically found in triple-A games.

“There’s definitely people asking for game expansions,” he said.

“We were very happy to prove that there is still a market for these types of things. Some of the comments we’ve had from players after playing the first expansion is ‘you guys totally broke the system – you’ve just released something that has more content than many full triple-A titled releases for a fraction of the price. It’s crazy.’

“We want to make sure everyone gets their money’s worth. This is an expansion, after all, so it’s fairly priced. That’s one thing that we are very adamant about: making sure everyone feels their money’s well spent.

“Having expansions is very old-school. It’s very rare to see, which is sad. If it’s good, it’s worthwhile and it has an interesting story, why not do it? It only adds even more good to an already good thing.”

You can read the full interview here.