Witcher 3 Better Skyrim Dragon Age

For an independent developer, CD Projekt RED has made a strong impact on the fantasy RPG genre during this generation. With its adapation of The Witcher book series into two successful games, the company has become a fan favorite amonsgst hardcore role-playing fans, but has not had quite as much success with mainstream gamers like Bethesda's Elder Scrolls series has. CD Projekt RED hopes to change that with The Witcher 3: The Wild HuntIn an interview with Game Informer, Michal Nowakowski, Vice President of Business Development for CD Projekt RED spoke about the company's goals for The Witcher 3:

"Because we believe that the third game is going to be something that is going to be enjoyable for a lot larger group of people than the previous games. Even though we still feel that the previous games could still be enjoyed by a larger group of people that actually bought them...

It's really difficult to achieve numbers like some of our brand competition like the Dragon Age franchise, Skyrim, or what not. Are we that much behind them in terms of the quality of the games? Of course, we have a lot to learn, we do know that. But I really do think we can deliver a game of at least similar quality as they do, if not better. Of course, our target is to be better, always."

Nowakowski's comment on sales notwithstanding, we felt that The Witcher 2 stood tall among its peers as we rated the title better than Dragon Age 2 (review), and on par with Skyrim (review). However, The Witcher's greatest strength, its deep and detailed storyline, may have been its biggest obstacle in attracting mass appeal in North America as Andrzej Sapkowski's book series is not well known and not as easy to digest as some other popular fantasy RPGs. The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition did a better job in explaining its mythology and detailing who the major players are, but some still found the game's story and conversation trees difficult to follow. Even with this impediment, the first two entries have managed to sell over 5 million copies combined.

Nonetheless, if CD Projekt RED can integrate a truly open world into The Witcher 3 that could rival the size and scope of Skyrim while keeping a strong narrative intact, the franchise may succeed in its vision of eclipsing its competitors, or at least, coming closer to matching them in sales.

The entire video interview with Michal Nowakowski can be watched below:

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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is expected to release sometime in 2014 for all “high-end” platforms.

Source: Game Informer