CD Projekt Red is bound to be ecstatic with the reception that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has received. A lot was promised of the open-world RPG, with fans looking forward to a huge map to explore and dangerous monsters to hunt. As it stands, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been a triumph for the developer, winning rave reviews across the board for its open world done right.

There have, however, been a few hiccups along the way. Most noticeably, some players have suffered through some severe frame rate issues. CD Projekt Red promised to alleviate the issues via patches, with updates for the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game. Unfortunately for Xbox One players, the Microsoft console's patch may have alleviated frame rate issues, but it has apparently led to a reduction in visual quality overall.

It's not the only graphical issue that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt players have noticed, either. Some fans of the title have stated that the graphical quality in the retail release of the game is lower than the stunning VGX trailer from 2013, with some even suggesting that the gameplay trailer was pre-rendered. Now, CD Projekt Red has spoken out about the graphical downgrade controversy. In an interview with Eurogamer, company co-founder Marcin Iwinski reveals that he doesn't "feel good" about the downgrade - but that there is a legitimate explanation.

Iwinski, along with studio head Adam Badowski and global communications manager Michal Platkow-Gilewski, explained that the VGX trailer was indeed captured PC footage, but the 2013 demo build of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt used a different rendering system. According to Badowski, CD Projekt Red was left with a choice between two rendering systems during the development process. Eventually, one system won out due to its versatility, looking "nicer across the whole world" and requiring less dynamic lighting.

The team went on to explain that this rendering choice has led to a better game overall. "People are saying that 2013 was better but actually there's plenty of things that improved since 2013," said Platkow-Gilewski, citing the size of the world, whilst Badowski also expressed happiness over praise of the game's optimization. Nonetheless, it looks as though CD Projekt Red feels bad about the perceived lack of openness. "The whole team was touched by this," says Platkow-Gilewski.

The developer is renowned for its openness with gamers, but this is still a refreshing change for the industry. After all, Watch Dogs players were only able to bump the game up to reveal trailer quality through a fan-made graphics mod. With CD Projekt Red sending out a patch to further increase PC graphical quality soon, CD Projekt Red will be hoping to continue its good relationship with the gaming community as a whole.

Source: Eurogamer