'The Witcher 4' EP Admits CD Projekt Red Is Aiming For "New Players" And People Who "Do Not Play Our Games"
Malgorzata Mitręga, the Executive Producer for CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher 4 admitted the company is aiming for “new players” with the game.
In an interview with IGN discussing The Witcher 4 following the release of its announcement trailer at The Game Awards, Mitręga said, “We want to aim for the new players.”
She elaborated, “The wider audience, and also the people that know the franchise but who maybe do not play our games.”
This approach will seemingly affect not only the story, but the gameplay in the game.
Game Director Sebastian Kalemba explained, “We create story-driven games, so we want to make sure that people that buy games for story, they'll be able to experience the story in their own way and they will be simply able to approach it.”
“But people that are looking for specific challenges, they will also be able to experience the story in a challenging way,” he added.
In regards to the story, Kalemba claims the company wants “to put player agency at the center” and that’s seemingly why they chose to make Ciri the main protagonist.
“We want to let players try to define her,” he explained. “She's about to form her own codex on her own terms. The way she actually deals with the monsters, the way she deals with quests, the adventures, it's her own unique way.”
He continued, “We’re giving] more tools for players' disposal, to be able to not only play and go with the consequences narratively, but also gameplay-wise. We want to give players more opportunities to be able to feel that they define their experience.”
Speaking specifically to the gameplay, Kalemba shared, ““I believe the gameplay [in Cyberpunk 2077] was more varied [than that in The Witcher 3] and it allowed more freedom when it comes to creating character builds and being able to experience encounters in your own way. This is something we definitely want to bring as a lesson [to The Witcher 4].”
“We want to improve on [The Witcher 3’s] gameplay but also we want to improve the alignment of the way you will be able to explore the world,” he said.
What do you make of these comments regarding the Witcher 4?
Terrible inference from what he said, agenda driven I'm sure.
So this is what's going to happen: In their quest for "New players" they're going to turn off a lot of their old players -- because you can't please everyone. If they really need more players (or more money) they can start by breaking out of the AAA habit of releasing games prematurely.