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“We Sold One and a Half Million Copies of a Dying Genre on a Dying Platform”

Posted by Rampant Coyote on August 30, 2010

Here’s a fun little interview with Tomasz Gop about The Witcher 2 at Gamasutra:

Working in ‘a Dying Genre on a Dying Platform’

The quote that makes the title of this article is their favorite joke – their way of sticking it to the publishers and pundits that still predict doom if you make PC-only games, or especially a hardcore RPG. There’s no market for either anymore, right?

Shyeah. Right.

Granted, I kinda considered The Witcher to be more of an action-RPG, and the video preview I’ve seen of the sequel looks very… well, even more action-gamey. Tomasz protests the action-RPG label in this interview: “The most important thing that we know is that people still believe good hardcore RPGs are playable. People want to play these. There’s one misconception many people have… This is not ‘action RPG,’ this is not ‘slasher RPG.’ We’re trying to really make a solid RPG.”

And I will have to concur. I mean, I love my turn-based RPGs. But I don’t think that the action-y aspect precludes it from being a hardcore RPG.  Din’s Curse, Ultima VII, and Baldur’s Gate are all pretty action-oriented and few would argue that they aren’t hardcore RPGs. Not that I have a great working definition for “hardcore RPG” in the first place.

Really,  I just love these guys’ attitude – from their work on RPGs to the awesomeness that is GOG.COM, they seem to be kindred spirits. Now I feel an urge to finally finish The Witcher. Just… need… more… time…


Filed Under: Biz, Interviews - Comments: 4 Comments to Read



  • Andy_Panthro said,

    I am also still to complete the first one, but in my defence I have a very long list of games to get through…

    Just not enough time in the day!

    I’d also suggest the difference between the action in U7+BG vs. the Witcher is that the Witcher has an active combat mechanic (you need to time your hits) whereas the other two you just select your target and let your character do the fighting.

    Haven’t played Din’s Curse, but from what I gather it’s like a rogue-like? May have to get it one of these days and see how it compares.

  • Rampant Coyote said,

    Totally check out the demo. I mean, it’s roguelike in the same way that Diablo is roguelike (which isn’t very, according to purists).

    But yeah – the timing mechanic in The Witcher didn’t thrill me much. It didn’t bug me a lot, but I guess the disorientation I get is the switch between making a decision and simply properly executing on an obvious path. The former is far more compelling for me, and it is a big part of the reason I enjoy RPGs. For the latter, I play Ninja Gaiden on my 360.

  • srobinson said,

    On the latest episode of the armchair arcade podcast, Matt Barton(of Dungeons and Desktops fame) touches on this. Specifically the death of complex/turn based RPGS. Worth a listen.

  • WCG said,

    An action-RPG? Really? I guess I never got that impression from the game. I mean, I guess it’s “real-time,” yes, but that timing stuff was a piece of cake, even for me (and I’m hopelessly incompetent at action games).

    In fact, I’ve heard a lot of people complain about how easy it was, and I’m worried that The Witcher II might change that. As I say, I am really, really bad at all “real-time” combat.

    Admittedly, The Witcher wasn’t exactly a hard-core RPG. I might even consider it more of an RPG-adventure game hybrid. But I thought it was great fun. Well, it was different. I don’t want to play the same game, or even the same game mechanics, all the time.

    I didn’t actually finish the game, but I never finish any games (or very, very few, anyway). But, despite the embarrassingly juvenile sex game included in it, I liked The Witcher. And yes, I love their attitude, and I’m a huge fan of GOG.com. So I guess I’m willing to cut them a little slack.

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