CD Projekt says Rise of the White Wolf ”remains suspended” and not scrapped. They won’t discuss how the internal video of the Witcher sequel leaked; a ”bittersweet” outcome.
They enjoy how excited the fans are to get ”their mitts on it,” though knowing how expectant fans are becoming puts ”a lot of pressure” on CD Projekt. Similarities equal differences.
”What happened and how the video was leaked to the internet isn’t a matter for public debate,” senior producer Thomas Gop told Eurogamer, ”and we simply won’t be commenting on it any further.” Though he’s got no problems noting the ‘fan fallout’.
”The feedback we got from the leak made us realise one thing: droves of people are waiting for this game. That’s a bit bittersweet. On the one hand we’re happy so many people can’t wait to get their mitts on it; on the other, knowing how much our fans actually expect puts a lot of pressure on us,” he went on.
The game engine for The Witcher 2 is a far greater beast than the original games, which gives Geralt a Havok powered world to live in now and better effects and gameplay all round.
”Keep in mind - the video was from an early alpha build of the game and absolutely nothing in it should be considered final. The leaked movie merely shows some of the improvements we’ll be introducing, but there will be many more in the future. Most of the game’s true strengths remain unrevealed,” warned Gop.
”We want to take what was best from the first game, power it up on our own technology and then extend and expand on it through lots of fresh, innovative ideas and solutions,” adding that there’s as many differences between the original and the sequel as there are similarities.
”We’re very confident about the sequel’s quality,” added Gop. ”We have an experienced and professional team whose members, without exception, are committed to presenting the universe of The Witcher as well as is humanly possible. What’s more, we know exactly what we want to achieve and how we’re going to achieve it.”
No need for The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition then? Let’s hope the first release gets it spot on so we don’t need to wait a year or two to get the best Geralt experience again.