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[JaseC]

For a frame of reference, $25m is also the same amount Valve spent marketing L4D2.

 

[szaromir]

From what i heard EU will be hit with a massive deficiency in software engineers and other IT related fields.

Obviously you need more than programmers to make a game. Being video game developer simply isn't seen as a viable future career option for a teenager in Poland, there aren't many studios and the horror stories from big studios abroad are enough to scare anyone away from looking at career opportunities there. The development scene has improved over the years with several AAA and several smaller devs at the moment, so maybe long term we will have a thriving development scene, but I doubt it.

 

[FlyingTeacup]

Good News: Dev budgets are leveling off.

Bad News: Marketing budgets are ballooning to the point that they exceed dev budgets.

Ladies and gentleman, the state of the video game industry.

indeed

it's baffling to me that marketing budget >>> dev budget. Dev needs to be paid better.

 

[Jay Shadow]

You would think they are going to ditch the development for this game because of their principles. But fuck principles, because money. Nothing but hot air form CDPR if you ask me.

I think people over blow everything CD Projekt says. They're not some super anti-DRM crusader looking to right the wrongs of the industry. They're a company who has their own philosophy for running GoG, and who journalists run to for a soundbite anytime there's mention of DRM in the news.

But they also want to make their game available to anyone who wants to play it anywhere. If they were as militantly anti-drm as everyone makes them out to be then they wouldn't have been on Steam. They're on Steam because Steam users want the game. They're on Origin because Origin users want the game. Witcher 3 will be on XBox because XBox users will want the game. What's the point of not making it for XBox? what does that prove exactly? That you want to shame customers that bought the XBox because the internet says you're wrong to own one? Cause you're not hurting Microsoft at all. No one is gonna run out and buy a XBox One specifically because of Witcher 3 cause it's already everywhere else.

CD Projekt puts their products on whatever platform they have the means to put it on because they want as many people to play their games as possible the way they want. They're not out to fuck over anyone who's okay using a DRM system. Want it on Steam? Here's your achievements and TF2 items. Want it on GoG? Here's your DRM free version. Want it on XBox One? Here's your Kinect support.

It's ridiculous that the gaming community doesn't want as many people possible to enjoy the games they love because of some war that they're not actually involved in at all.

 

[FACE]

Definitely buying it on GOG.

 

[Krusenstern]

I think people over blow everything CD Projekt says. They're not some super anti-DRM crusader looking to right the wrongs of the industry. They're a company who has their own philosophy for running GoG, and who journalists run to for a soundbite anytime there's mention of DRM in the news.

But they also want to make their game available to anyone who wants to play it anywhere. If they were as militantly anti-drm as everyone makes them out to be then they wouldn't have been on Steam. They're on Steam because Steam users want the game. They're on Origin because Origin users want the game. Witcher 3 will be on XBox because XBox users will want the game. What's the point of not making it for XBox? what does that prove exactly? That you want to shame customers that bought the XBox because the internet says you're wrong to own one? Cause you're not hurting Microsoft at all. No one is gonna run out and buy a XBox One specifically because of Witcher 3 cause it's already everywhere else.

CD Projekt puts their products on whatever platform they have the means to put it on because they want as many people to play their games as possible the way they want. They're not out to fuck over anyone who's okay using a DRM system. Want it on Steam? Here's your achievements and TF2 items. Want it on GoG? Here's your DRM free version. Want it on XBox One? Here's your Kinect support.

It's ridiculous that the gaming community doesn't want as many people possible to enjoy the games they love because of some war that they're not actually involved in at all.

Sounds fair.

 

[Can Crusher]

Something is rotten in the industry when you spend far more money on shit advertising than you do paying developers to make the game in the first place.

?!

It's the same as movies, t.v, books, music....

 

[szaromir]

I think people over blow everything CD Projekt says. They're not some super anti-DRM crusader looking to right the wrongs of the industry. They're a company who has their own philosophy for running GoG, and who journalists run to for a soundbite anytime there's mention of DRM in the news.

But they also want to make their game available to anyone who wants to play it anywhere. If they were as militantly anti-drm as everyone makes them out to be then they wouldn't have been on Steam. They're on Steam because Steam users want the game. They're on Origin because Origin users want the game. Witcher 3 will be on XBox because XBox users will want the game. What's the point of not making it for XBox? what does that prove exactly? That you want to shame customers that bought the XBox because the internet says you're wrong to own one? Cause you're not hurting Microsoft at all. No one is gonna run out and buy a XBox One specifically because of Witcher 3 cause it's already everywhere else.

CD Projekt puts their products on whatever platform they have the means to put it on because they want as many people to play their games as possible the way they want. They're not out to fuck over anyone who's okay using a DRM system. Want it on Steam? Here's your achievements and TF2 items. Want it on GoG? Here's your DRM free version. Want it on XBox One? Here's your Kinect support.

It's ridiculous that the gaming community doesn't want as many people possible to enjoy the games they love because of some war that they're not actually involved in at all.

Excellent post.

 

[JaseC]

I think people over blow everything CD Projekt says. They're not some super anti-DRM crusader looking to right the wrongs of the industry. They're a company who has their own philosophy for running GoG, and who journalists run to for a soundbite anytime there's mention of DRM in the news.

But they also want to make their game available to anyone who wants to play it anywhere. If they were as militantly anti-drm as everyone makes them out to be then they wouldn't have been on Steam. They're on Steam because Steam users want the game. They're on Origin because Origin users want the game. Witcher 3 will be on XBox because XBox users will want the game. What's the point of not making it for XBox? what does that prove exactly? That you want to shame customers that bought the XBox because the internet says you're wrong to own one? Cause you're not hurting Microsoft at all. No one is gonna run out and buy a XBox One specifically because of Witcher 3 cause it's already everywhere else.

CD Projekt puts their products on whatever platform they have the means to put it on because they want as many people to play their games as possible the way they want. They're not out to fuck over anyone who's okay using a DRM system. Want it on Steam? Here's your achievements and TF2 items. Want it on GoG? Here's your DRM free version. Want it on XBox One? Here's your Kinect support.

It's ridiculous that the gaming community doesn't want as many people possible to enjoy the games they love because of some war that they're not actually involved in at all.

Steam isn't inherently DRM: the service has its fair share of DRM-free games. CDPR could release the game DRM-free on Steam if it so desired, even if Steamworks is supported (see: Scribblenauts Unlimited).

 

[delirium]

indeed

it's baffling to me that marketing budget >>> dev budget. Dev needs to be paid better.

It's because they're in Poland. A software engineer will make $20k USD in Poland where a one in America will be 3-5x that.

Steam isn't inherently DRM: the service has its fair share of DRM-free games. CDPR could release the game DRM-free on Steam if it so desired, even if Steamworks is supported (see: Scribblenauts Unlimited).

Steam is a DRM itself.

 

[boskee]

I think people over blow everything CD Projekt says. They're not some super anti-DRM crusader looking to right the wrongs of the industry. They're a company who has their own philosophy for running GoG, and who journalists run to for a soundbite anytime there's mention of DRM in the news.

But they also want to make their game available to anyone who wants to play it anywhere. If they were as militantly anti-drm as everyone makes them out to be then they wouldn't have been on Steam. They're on Steam because Steam users want the game. They're on Origin because Origin users want the game. Witcher 3 will be on XBox because XBox users will want the game. What's the point of not making it for XBox? what does that prove exactly? That you want to shame customers that bought the XBox because the internet says you're wrong to own one? Cause you're not hurting Microsoft at all. No one is gonna run out and buy a XBox One specifically because of Witcher 3 cause it's already everywhere else.

CD Projekt puts their products on whatever platform they have the means to put it on because they want as many people to play their games as possible the way they want. They're not out to fuck over anyone who's okay using a DRM system. Want it on Steam? Here's your achievements and TF2 items. Want it on GoG? Here's your DRM free version. Want it on XBox One? Here's your Kinect support.

It's ridiculous that the gaming community doesn't want as many people possible to enjoy the games they love because of some war that they're not actually involved in at all.

Well said. If I may add - their anti-DRM stance means that they're unlikely to impose extra restrictions on Xbox One, Steam or other platforms. It doesn't mean they will completely skip them.

 

[JudgeN]

Good News: Dev budgets are leveling off.

Bad News: Marketing budgets are ballooning to the point that they exceed dev budgets.

Ladies and gentleman, the state of the video game industry.

Its like this in every industry, marketing has always been more expensive then the actual product. If you want to mass market an item.

 

[Spongebob]

Still miniscule compared to most other AAA games.

 

[MDX]

So we can expect it to be pretty polished?

 

[Violater]

Oh ffs, it's only going to sell to hardcore gamers anyway, and they barely need to see advertising. Just spend more on the game. EA/Activision are fucking killing this industry with their AAA marketing budget bullshit..

Agreed, they could almost make another game if that's the case.
hahaha wow.

 

[GillianSeed79]

It's pretty clear they want the Witcher 3 to be a success on consoles. They've been trying to get into the console space since the start of this gen. Witcher 3 will do fine on PC without heavy advertising, but, let's be honest, didn't the Witcher 2 bomb on the 360? There was no reason why Witcher 2 couldn't have been a success on the Xbox 360. Despite the stereotype that Xbox owners only play shooters and dudebro games, people forget that Skyrim sold like hot cakes as have other WRPG's on the platform. It seemed Witcher 2 essentially got sent to die at retail when it released on 360 since there was barely any advertising.

$25 million sounds like a lot, but for marketing campaign (especially if it's world wide) that's pretty tiny.

 

[Krusenstern]

Steam is a DRM itself.

It's a digital distribution platform which can give publishers the option to use DRM.

 

[szaromir]

Steam isn't inherently DRM: the service has its fair share of DRM-free games. CDPR could release the game DRM-free on Steam if it so desired, even if Steamworks is supported (see: Scribblenauts Unlimited).

Neither is Origin, but you never correct people over that. Plus, did you send an e-mail to Amazon informing them that they have product descriptions wrong when they list Steam as DRM? Such an obvious mistake by such a big corporation should be corrected, shouldn't it?

 

[Violater]

marketing budget (25 000 000 USD) will be paid by distributors and publishers in advance and deduced from the copies they sell.

I'm in the wrong line of work.

 

[tkscz]

The game needs to sell at leas 750,000 copies to break even. For a game as popular as the Witcher, that doesn't seem like a problem.

 

[JaseC]

Steam is a DRM itself.

It can be used as DRM, sure. But it isn't inherently DRM; tethering games to the client is entirely up to the publisher and, again, even Steamworks support doesn't necessitate it.

 

[delirium]

It's a digital distribution platform which can give publishers the option to use DRM.

Sorry, but you're wrong. It limits people from selling used games, thus it is DRM.

 

[Thaedolus]

Day 1, full price. Gotta support the guys making games I want to see and pushing the technological envelope.

 

[JaseC]

Plus, did you send an e-mail to Amazon informing them that they have product descriptions wrong when they list Steam as DRM? Such an obvious mistake by such a big corporation should be corrected, shouldn't it?

Outside of testing myself, there's no way I'd know if a Steam-redeemable game Amazon is offering utilises CEG or is DRM-free.

 

[szaromir]

Outside of testing myself, there's no way I'd know if a Steam-redeemable game Amazon is offering utilises CEG or is DRM-free.

You know in this case:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A4MWX04/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[JaseC]

You know in this case:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A4MWX04/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Sure, because in that case I have tested it myself.

 

[kswiston]

The game needs to sell at leas 750,000 copies to break even. For a game as popular as the Witcher, that doesn't seem like a problem.

That's assuming a 100% cut for the publisher, which isn't the case.

 

[UrbanRats]

Is 15m$ even AAA? I would say barely, but then again if you factor in the 25m$, yeah 40m$ would be.

Crazy how good it is and how cheap they're keeping it, compared to something like, say, Assassin's Creed 3.

 

[Krusenstern]

Sorry, but you're wrong. It limits people from selling used games, thus it is DRM.

Are we talking about digital or physical games tied to Steam? If physical, I'll give you that. Digital games can't be resold anyways right now.

 

[bluecapsule]

That's the fraction of the cost for a AAA first person shooter, with a much bigger world + a lot more voice acting.

 

[Huggers]

I thought it looked utterly brilliant. Money well spent

 

[Riposte]

Do they pay their devs minimum wage or something? If you can drop 15 million somewhere in Poland and get The Witcher 3, how are there not more studios there?

 

[JaseC]

Are we talking about digital or physical games tied to Steam? If physical, I'll give you that. Digital games can't be resold anyways right now.

That's his point, it seems: digital distribution services are themselves a form of DRM since they restrict the ability to sell what you've purchased.

 

[NeededSleep]

Amazing. they put SE to shame on how to manage money.


/hats off to CRPR

 

[BigDug13]

Why does this need so much marketting? Everyone who played and enjoyed The Witcher 2 will buy The Witcher 3.

 

[Dahbomb]

CRPR puts most other big publishers/developers to shame in terms of budget for their games. Witcher 3 looked freakin amazing and better than most of those bloated AAA 100 million dollar budget games.

 

[szaromir]

Amazing. they put SE to shame on how to manage money.


/hats off to CRPR

Do they? The way they talk about this game, ie. huge open world with much more unique content than Skyrim, tons of sidequests with extensive story (lots of writing and production values) etc. suggests that they don't exactly look for ways to make this as cheap as possible. They might have better producers and creative leads than Square Enix though (giving better cost effectiveness).

 

[Louis Cypher]

I'll be fun to see how much better this is than the (most likely) shit stain that is DA 3 which will probably have a budget at least twice this

 

[Anarkin]

They also opened a new studio in Krakow. 20 people working there currently on 1 of the 2 smaller games.

 

[charsace]

That's insanely cheap. These countries are gonna kill game development in other countries in the same way they kill special effects houses in the movie industry.

 

[Felix Lighter]

Do they pay their devs minimum wage or something? If you can drop 15 million somewhere in Poland and get The Witcher 3, how are there not more studios there?

You need the work force to support it and you can't count on a mass migration of developers to a country with lower wages.

 

[imBask]

so, another game that will sell 4M copies and still be considered as a failure from the publishers?

 

[subversus]

speaks volumes about how profitable everything Techland does.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

so, another game that will sell 4M copies and still be considered as a failure from the publishers?

BTW is Atari still the publisher? Is it namco? WB?

 

[faridmon]

Makes me wonder why more publishers aren't looking to poland and countries like it to set up studios.

They already do. Ubisoft have studios in Hungary and Shangahai.

 

[Louis Cypher]

That's insanely cheap. These countries are gonna kill game development in other countries in the same way they kill special effects houses in the movie industry.

Poland has some pretty good devs already.

 

[kodt]

Something is rotten in the industry when you spend far more money on shit advertising than you do paying developers to make the game in the first place.

This is true in tons of industries.

Look at SEO. People pay $10-100 a month for a website hosting plan (depending on features) but then spend $2-3k a month on SEO and marketing.

 

[boskee]

BTW is Atari still the publisher? Is it namco? WB?

CD Projekt will self publish TW3 worldwide http://www.pb.pl/3169838,32789,wiedzmin-3-bedzie-kosztowal-ponad-100-mln-zl

 

[GillianSeed79]

Why does this need so much marketting? Everyone who played and enjoyed The Witcher 2 will buy The Witcher 3.

They like money? It well sell well On PC, yes. On consoles, maybe not. Like I said earlier, Witcher 2 bombed on 360. They are now releasing Witcher 3 on PS4 and Xbox One. It's pretty clear the first game will never be ported to consoles. A niche of players bought Witcher 2 on 360. PS4 owners will be looking at a game that is the third in a franchise, the second of which was never released on PS3. I'm not saying Witcher 3 won't be amazing. That and MGSV are the two next-gen games I'm most looking forward too, I just don't think they can expect a huge return on consoles unless they try to market it right.

 

[we.are.the.armada]

So guys, this thing needs to sell like 670k new copies in order to make marginal revenue? If so, that's doable from these guys, right?