The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Message Board older than one year ago

If you pick up an Xbox 360 copy of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings in Western Europe, Central or South America, or the Asia-Pacific region next year, it'll be thanks to Namco Bandai. A court in Lyon, France has ruled that it may distribute the game in those territories, following a dispute with CD Projekt parent company Optimus SA, which had offered the game to THQ despite prior commitments.

Namco Bandai is entitled to a new distribution contract, and can extract a punitive fee of 15,000 euros per day if Optimus doesn't sign on the dotted line within 15 days of the ruling. When the dispute began, Optimus president Adam Kicinski expected a settlement or a legal victory, after which, he said, "the loser will pay for our lawyers."

A second loser here is THQ, which sees its preliminary agreement crushed as collateral damage beneath the gavel. According to Parkiet.com, CD Projekt RED board member Marcin Iwinski said THQ had suffered no costs, and that the companies may yet "part in harmony."

The court did not venture an opinion on Namco Bandai's suggestion that CD Projekt had violated their agreement by spontaneously disabling DRM from PC versions of The Witcher 2.

Despite an eye-opening ratio of around five pirated copies per one legitimate purchase of The Witcher 2, the CEO of resolutely anti-DRM developer and publisher CD Projekt has reiterated that stringent copy-protection is not the way forward...

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Witcher developers CD Projekt RED will be working together to bring The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings to the Xbox 360 in North America, the two said today. The console adaptation is expected early next year. More »

If for some reason you've avoided playing The Witcher 2 so far, now seems to be a great time to give it a shot. CD Projekt RED just issued a huge patch for the game, upgrading it to version 2.0 and adding in a bunch of new content. That includes a new tutorial system and all the downloadable content released in time following the game's launch this past May...

Confusingly-named The Witcher 2 mega-patch, 2.0, is now live. I’ve posted the full list of its contents below. It’s a big list. A list that address many of the criticisms from my review. For even more elucidation of what is going on with TW2 check out this interview with the development director. (I also notice that the game is $29.99 on GoG for the next week. It’s a cracking thing, and I’d recommend anyone who hasn’t yet taken the plunge to do so now. It’s going to be in my top five games of 2011.)

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#thewitcher PC gamers that didn't enjoy The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings as much as I did should check back in on Thursday, when the massive 2.0 update adds a full tutorial, arena combat, the insanely difficult dark mode, and much, much more. Wanna see a full list? More »

CDP have spent the months since the release of The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings putting yet more work into the title. This all comes to a head with the release of the 2.0 patch on the 29th. This enormo-patch adds a load of content (even – gasp – a tutorial!).

We spoke to CDP’s development director Adam Badowski to find out what the Polish development studio had been up to, and how they’d reacted to the feedback on their game. We also asked whether it would take four years to get to sequel, and were told that the team are still considering whether to make a full-blown expansion…(more…)

Another installment of The Witcher could be on the way, according to writer and designer Jan Bartkowicz...

The Warsaw Business Journal is reporting some big figures for CD Projekt Red's The Witcher 2. Since its launch in May, The Witcher 2 has sold 940,000 copies, netting millions of dollars in profit for the Polish developer...

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is close to selling a million copies, a representative for developer CD Projekt Red confirmed to Joystiq earlier today. The Warsaw Business Journal reported that the studio had sold 940,000 copies of the gorgeous monster hunter RPG in the first half of 2011, following its launch on May 17.

The Witcher 2 version 2.0 update for PC should arrive on September 29, alleviating the game's punishing opening and making other tweaks that should open up Geralt's excellent adventure to more players. The Xbox 360 version, which will ship with the V2.0 content, is still planned for Q1 2012.

#thewitcher The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Version 2.0 will be a free patch that gives PC gamers a new tutorial system, a survival arena mode, a difficulty-increasing dark mode, oodles of patches and all of the previously released download packs. More »

In typical CD Projekt RED fashion, the studio is spending a lot of time adding in content following the launch of a major title. It happened with the original Witcher, and it's happening again with The Witcher 2. On September 29 The Witcher 2 will be updated to version 2.0, a free update to all existing owners...

You couldn’t wish for a vaguer statement, but when it comes to what may well prove to be the year’s best RPG, talk of a ‘new and improved PC version 2.0′ is EXCITING TALK. This news comes from the end of a noodly, AOR music video featuring some silly rocker put out by CD Projekt RED late last week. Most of the video is Geralt striking a pose, but the end boasts of the upcoming 360 port – and a major new patch for the PC version, dubbed version 2.0.

I have no details for you than that, but at a guess it will involve bringing the various tweaks, updates and newosity from the console edition into the PC original. Win-win, hopefully. You can watch the music video below, if you must.(more…)

Alongside Mass Effect 3's delay, there's less RPG with dozens of hours of content to play this fall.

Argh, I say.

CD Projekt RED's announced The Witcher 2 will not longer be coming to Xbox 360 this year. Instead, we're looking at early 2012 for the RPG sequel, a series that's been struggling to debut on consoles for a few years now.

Specifically, all parties involved are targeting first quarter 2012, meaning (likely) before the end of March.

The Xbox 360 version of the game has been pitched as an adaptation, not a port. CD Projekt RED hopes to spend the extra development time making sure the conversion happens smoothly.

"The extra time will allow us to polish the title to perfection, so that the game offers an ideally balanced, fantastic experience to gamers," said studio president Adam Kicinski in the press release.

More important, perhaps, are the recent legal issues surrounding the release of The Witcher 2.

Long story short, Namco Bandai's disputing CD Projeket RED being allowed to partner with THQ over the release of The Witcher 2 on Xbox 360 in Europe.

CD Projekt RED announced today that the Xbox 360 "adaptation" of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings will arrive in the first quarter for 2012. The developers stated that the extra time will allow them to improve the game -- which they are saying is not a "typical port" -- and resolve the legal dispute with Namco Bandai in which it's currently involved.

The Witcher 2 for Xbox 360 will be playable at the upcoming Gamescom 2011 show in Germany in Hall 6 (Stand C021). CD Projekt will also reveal upcoming DLC for the PC version, following an "as-yet-unannounced update". An update that was, by definition, just announced... but apparently doesn't have a name or any details to share yet.

The release of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings for Xbox 360 has been pushed back to the first quarter of 2012...

It feels like a long time since Jim delivered his thoughts on The Witcher 2, and we’ve all meaning to come back to it. Now Jim, Richard, and Kieron get together to compare thoughts (and bedpost notches) on one of the most important games of the year. There are many, many spoilers ahead.

Jim: The Witcher 2: this year’s witchiest RPG has been played by we three men, and now those men aim to discuss it. Kieron, would you like to tell us what you think The Witcher 2 is?(more…)

Ladies, gentlemen, be seated, for today is a solemn and joyful occasion: the adding of a new entry to the Patch Notes Hall of Fame, right next to the special Boiling Point Memorial Annex (as so memorably earned with notes like “the snake wasn’t able to bite you while you were crawling” and “fixed: size of the moon”). The Witcher 2, lay your goodness upon us:

Option to fist fight woman praying at a statue in Vergen has been deactivated.

And breathe… and relax. That’s not the only addition though, with others including a smoothing over of the difficulty curve, the inventory getting a new ‘Junk’ option to make it clear what you can get rid of, innkeepers looking after your stuff while you’re out questing, the protective power of Quen being dialed down, and map markers actually going in the right place. Most excitingly of all, there’s a brand new quest! I think we all know what that means. Yes! It’s Diary Time!

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Patch 1.3 for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is live, delivering extended aspect ratio support, 3D Vision support fixes, item storage, cutscene flashbacks and more, topped off with "A Sackful of Fluff", a lovely bit of free downloadable content. More »

Warsaw, Poland - CD Projekt RED has released the huge 1.3 Update for The Witcher 2, bringing with it the free "A Sackful of Fluff" DLC and a long list of improvements for the RPG of the Year candidate. The update includes a plethora of fan-requested improvements, including difficulty adjustments for...

Artwork from the game is among the small pile of details we know about Valve's plan for Dota 2.

Downloading a game as big as The Witcher 2--13.9 GB!--is going to take longer than a lunch break. Valve's hoping to improve the overall speed of Steam with a tweaked backend, which the company detailed in a blog post that goes into the nitty gritty tech details behind it.

In summary: downloading games and other content off Steam is going to get faster. HD trailers featured on Steam are already piping through the new content delivery system, with the first major stress test being Dota 2.

That game's been announced for a while now, but Valve hasn't shown what it looks like or said when we'll play it.

"Over time, more and more of the content on Steam will be delivered using this new system," said the company. "Soon, Dota 2 will be delivered using it."

Dota (Defense of the Ancients) is a strategy game that first showed up as a mod for WarCraft III, where players control incredibly powerful singular units. The mod spawned a genre unto itself, with games like League of Legends taking the concept, running with it--and monetizing it, to boot.

Rumors have pointed to an official unveiling of Dota 2 at next months' Gamescom event in Germany.

If you're still confused about Dota, just watch this. Makes sense, right?

Another update for The Witcher 2: Assassin's of Kings is on its way, and it will contain a new quest, developer CD Projekt Red has confirmed via its community page. Standing out in a long list of updates in patch 1.3 is "A Sackful of Fluff", a new mission available in Chapter 2. CD Projekt hinted that the quest will reward "those who demonstrate patience", but didn't offer any other information on the content, except that players must visit the eccentric Elthon to start the quest...

Morning, morning, morning. How’s every little thing? It’s grey and dismal here, which means once again I wish to turn to a fantasy world instead of spend my every minute in such a dour country. But which fantasy world, I ask myself? For I am The Whicher. Perhaps, however, I’d be better off in the world of The Witcher. Especially as next patch for the second game promises some new adventuring for glowering hero Geralt.(more…)

#lawsuit Namco Bandai is suing the parent company of the maker of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, the acclaimed PC role-playing game that will make its way to Xbox 360 later this year, over the rights to distribute that version of the game in Europe. More »

The fight over The Witcher 2 on Xbox 360 is over in Europe. Everything's cool here in the US.

Namco Bandai has filed a lawsuit against Optimus SA, the parent company of CD Projekt Red.

Credit to Poland gaming site CD Action for breaking the original news, but more details are found in a disclosure released by Optimus.

When THQ announced it had obtained the European publishing rights to The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings for Xbox 360, that apparently surprised Namco Bandai, who had signed a distribution deal with developer CD Projekt Red for the European release of the PC version.

Atari will be publishing The Witcher II on Xbox 360 here in the US. Complicating matters, Atari Europe was acquired by Namco Bandai in 2009, gobbling up Atari's European distribution.

Namco Bandai is also arguing CD Projekt Red broke its contract with Namco Bandai by removing DRM from the PC version of the game without its permission.

Naturally, Optimus and CD Projekt Red believe both are in the clear.

"Namco's claims are unfounded," reads the statement.

As a consequence of the lawsuit, Namco Bandai is withholding payments of 1,225,000 Euros (roughly $1.75 million dollars).

"In the opinion of the [Optimus] management board, Namco consequently claim the desire to continue cooperation in the distribution [of] CDP RED products after the recent release of games released on PC, due to the expected potential sales of this title for console Xbox 360," concluded the company. (Also, I blame Google Translate for the awkward phrasing.)

Both the Soul Calibur publisher and THQ have not yet responded to requests for comment.

CD Projekt Red did not yet have any additional information about the lawsuit when contacted.

AGOURA HILLS, Calif. - THQ announced an agreement to publish CD Projekt RED's revolutionary role-playing game, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Under the deal, THQ, through its THQ Partners program, will market and distribute the anticipated title in Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East...

CD Projekt Red recently confirmed The Witcher 2 will be made available on Xbox 360, and at E3 2011 was showing off the game in action. It's basically the same game that was released on PC earlier this year, which earned a 9.0 on IGN.com. We recently interviewed the studio about what's being done to bring the game to consoles, and they offered up plenty of detail...

You'd think the witcher would have a potion to eradicate unruly hair, but apparently even he needs to consult the barber from time to time. CD Projekt has bundled the free "Barbers and Coiffeuses" DLC with the latest Witcher 2 patch (version 1.2), allowing Geralt to alter his hairstyle "for a small fee" in each chapter. And knowing his knack for crafting, he'll probably put the hair trimmings to good use in making a foul-smelling elixir.

In addition to injecting all previously released DLC, the new patch also addresses the issue of a sprawling save directory. Save files are now compressed, and an in-game option to delete them has been added. According to the patch notes, controller analogue sticks should also be responsive in menus again (especially helpful in the radial combat menu), the prologue battle should be more balanced, and The Witcher 1 saves should import correctly.

CD Projekt has stated that all corrections will carry over to the upcoming Xbox 360 version of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.

CD Projekt RED, the creator of distinctive non-linear RPG experiences, announces the release of a new patch for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings that upgrades the game to version 1.2. It implements more than 30 significant additions, improvements and fixes plus a number of lesser ones. The full li...

CD Projekt has released update 1.2 for The Witcher 2 on the PC, featuring more than 30 significant changes and fixes to the game, including the ability for Geralt to swap between six different looks via in-game barber shops. More »