Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Witcher 2 Devs "Don’t Like To See Gamers Treated Like Dairy Cows"
CD Projekt RED development director Adam Badowski expressed his disdain for the mercenary attitude many publishers take toward DLC in an interview with Rock, Paper, Shotgun. The Polish company is talking the talk – "We don’t see the idea [of paid DLC] as wrong, but we definitely don’t like to see gamers treated like dairy cows that are primed for milking," Badowski declared – after walking the walk with its exemplary post-release support for both The Witcher and its sequel, including the huge 2.0 patch coming to The Witcher 2 tomorrow.
Badowski's comments on DLC are music to the ears of gamers who find themselves paying $80 or more to unlock everything in their games. "We’re not only in this industry to make games, we’re also here to do business. But we shouldn’t look at it exclusively from the latter angle," he said. "If you only think about the business in terms of the money it can generate, I think you could come awfully close to forcing players to buy something additional in order to enjoy fully a game they just bought."
Badowski also noted that all PC DLC for The Witcher 2 will remain free, but Xbox players won't be so lucky "because of certain Microsoft policies that need to be followed." So you know where to direct any future frothy rage at having to pay for something that someone else gets for free.
The Witcher 2 is one of the best RPGs I've played in years, and the 360 version scheduled for early next year is looking honestly fantastic. And with comments like these from the developers, I can't help but pull for them to find even more success than the "slightly above expectations" that Badowski classified Witcher 2 sales as.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
