The first Witcher from CD Projekt Red is 18 years old. „Can't believe it was that long ago”
The Witcher has turned 18, and creators and players alike recall the Polish game's difficult road to adulthood and fame.
18 years ago, the digital Witcher saga kicked off, and with it, probably the most acclaimed Polish game series ever.
When CD Projekt started working on a game set in the universe created by Andrzej Sapkowski at the beginning of the 21st century, there were many skeptical voices. The Polish gaming market has had some wins, but mostly just within the country.
The adult Witcher and the fight for fame
No one probably expected that 18 years later, The Witcher would become a phenomenon known worldwide, with Geralt and company appearing in other productions (and even on Netflix, with... interesting results). However, the road to popularity wasn't easy, as the creators mention in their anniversary posts.
Michal Nowakowski, co-president of CD Projekt Group, shared how proud he is of the journey both The Witcher and the CD Projekt RED studio have been on. As he put it, the struggle not for fame, but even for gamers to notice the release of the first "Witcher" was a difficult battle for the Polish developer.
I remember the launch, and the uphill battle for the first Witcher game to get noticed at all. Can't believe it was that long ago. So much happened in the meantime, both for The Witcher IP and for CDPR in general. Proud I had (and continue to have!) a privilege to be a part of that crazy story. More adventures ahead! – Michal Nowakowski
Meanwhile, Philip Weber (narrative director of The Witcher 4) recalls not only his first adventure with the game but also an article in a German magazine that promoted The Witcher as a "promising" title for Gothic fans.
Other CDPR employees have their own remarks, such as on the "interesting" dialogues and the "coming of age" of The Witcher, or how quickly these 18 years have passed. Of course, the players joined in on the reminiscing too, giving thanks to the creators and Andrzej Sapkowski. They're also eagerly waiting for the revamped version of the first game that CD Projekt Red and Fool’s Theory are working on.
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Author: Jacob Blazewicz
Graduated with a master's degree in Polish Studies from the University of Warsaw with a thesis dedicated to this very subject. Started his adventure with gamepressure.com in 2015, writing in the Newsroom and later also in the film and technology sections (also contributed to the Encyclopedia). Interested in video games (and not only video games) for years. He began with platform games and, to this day, remains a big fan of them (including Metroidvania). Also shows interest in card games (including paper), fighting games, soulslikes, and basically everything about games as such. Marvels at pixelated characters from games dating back to the time of the Game Boy (if not older).
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