In an age where we have companies charging us $2 for a skin pack post release, one dev has taken a stand against crappy DLC. Bad movie trailer jokes aside, CD Projekt Red game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz has said in an interview with Examiner that his company just doesn’t believe in charging gamers for extra content, especially not the way many companies currently do it.
His direct quote goes a bit like this: “We could sell extra content to gamers ‘down the road,’ but we don’t believe in that. We believe patches, fixes, and additional content should be provided to gamers free of charge. Only something REALLY big, and something that will not make you feel ripped off, justifies a price tag.” This statement is backed up by the fact that both of the current Witcher games have received “Enhanced Editions” post release that add content at the same price as the regular game once cost, and both have also received free mods from the developers that vastly change the way each game plays.
Of course, they haven’t ruled out a big post-release expansion just yet. While he does say that he doesn’t like to charge for extra content, he does say that it isn’t entirely off the table. The company does appear to agree however, that anything they want to charge for post release will be something that the fans will be glad to spend the money on.
That could be hinting at a big expansion to the Witcher 3, though given their track record with the series, and how big the game is already supposed to be, I personally kind of doubt that they would. However, I could see them releasing several expansions for their other project in the works, Cyberpunk 2077. Cyberpunk is based off of a rich tabletop universe that they likely won’t be able to cover all of in the main game, so there would be plenty of room for several large expansions. I’m personally excited for the prospect, though I was super excited for Cyberpunk already.
I do have to say, while I already have a lot of respect for CD Projekt Red, this announcement brought it to a whole new level. Normally, I’m a pretty pro DLC guy. I’m of the “If you don’t like it, no one is making you buy it” philosophy, and I normally like that devs still try to hand us extra content after a game is release. I normally only buy it if I know it’s gonna be something I want (like the Injustice or Borderlands 2 Season Passes) or if it’s something I’ve heard is good from people that have already played it (in this case Civ V expansions). I do have to respect a company like CD Projekt that believes in delivering a full product to the customer, though, and I highly respect their policy to not release paid additional content unless they know the fans will be satisfied.
So, what do you guys think? Post your DLC thoughts in the comments, and stay tuned to Gameskinny for more Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 news!
