The Witcher console port cancelled?

[R Nilla]

UPDATE2: Finally, a statement from CD Projekt. Now this is getting interesting. It appears the two companies (CD Projekt and Widescreen Games) are in the middle of a financial dispute. This is an unfortunate situation for everyone involved, including fans of the game.

Link

It is sad that we cannot talk with Widescreen Games in normal business way, but communicate through media. It is absolutely not our style of making business, and we answer here as we feel forced to do this to clarify the unclear information:

1. All payments were done on time according to milestone plan.

2. Truth is that payments were later than originally planned but this was solely due to delays in production. The delays were growing in the project due to Widescreen Games continued to miss the deadlines.

3. Delays and risks of further development by Widescreen Games were unacceptable by CD Projekt (this happened even though CD Projekt RED was constantly increasing main team involvement to help in the production). The most important fact is that development process didn?t make planned release date possible and moreover propositions of the new release date were changing few times. Besides the schedule, technical incapability created a risk of missing planned quality which is absolutely unacceptable. And this brought an end in our cooperation with Widescreen Games.

4. Currently the works are on hold. We are evaluating all possible options to continue the production. Making this decision was extremely difficult and sad as we know that many people are waiting for this project. We do our best to find a way out of this situation. But final decision must guarantee high quality of the product, otherwise we won?t continue the production no matter what consequences it will bring. We are committed to the highest quality of all our games, and this is unnegotiable for us.

So no matter what the final decision or solution we will find, please be sure that it will be the best for the game quality, and satisfaction of gamers, which is the most important for us!

Michal Kicinski
Joint CEO
CD Projekt Group

UPDATE1:

GameBanshee

According to a press release sent out by Widescreen Games, one of CD Projekt Red's collaborators on the Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf, the title has been "frozen".

VG247

?After having a payment being broken by CD Projekt - a big payment that we were supposed to receive - and after having committed to the project but not being covered financially on it for three months, I hold no choice but to put the team on hold,? said Widescreen boss Olivier Masclef in a phone interview this afternoon.

CD Project has yet to release an official statement.

======================================================

GameBanshee claims the rumor is true, citing an inside source. Supposedly the financial crisis forced CD Projekt to lay off staff and subsequently cancel the console ports to focus on The Witcher 2.

According to ShackNews, CD Projekt should be releasing an official statement soon.

Link

Following rumors that the console port of CD Projekt's 2007 cult hit RPG The Witcher has been cancelled, a company representative told Shacknews that an official statement on the matter will be released "soon."

The rumors began with a report from Polish site PolyGamia, which heard from multiple sources that The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf had been cancelled.
When contacted yesterday by Shacknews, a CD Projekt representative issued an uncharacteristic "no comment" on the matter.

The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf was announced late last year, as sales of the PC title passed the one million unit mark. The port is scheduled for release on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this fall.

Sad news if this turns out to be true, as I was looking forward to this and it seemed like it was coming along nicely. Guess I'll have to pony up for the PC version now that I have a somewhat capable machine.

 

[Queasy]

Yeah, I read that yesterday but the rumor originated from a website I had never heard of before so I didn't know how valid it was. I'm still not sure how valid it is.

 

[R Nilla]

More news from GameBanshee:

According to a press release sent out by Widescreen Games, one of CD Projekt Red's collaborators on the Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf, the title has been "frozen". A translation of the first few paragraphs (my French isn't great though).

There's a link to the French press release as well as a rough translation of it in the article.

 

[erwos]

Well, that sucks.

 

[Queasy]

VG247

The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf developer WideScreen has confirmed to VG247 that the game has been suspended as CD Projekt has failed to meet financial obligations.

?After having a payment being broken by CD Projekt - a big payment that we were supposed to receive - and after having committed to the project but not being covered financially on it for three months, I hold no choice but to put the team on hold,? said Widescreen boss Olivier Masclef in a phone interview this afternoon.

Masclef also said CD Projekt?s deal with Atari was out of kilter with Widescreen?s agreement with CD Projekt in terms of milestones.

The suspension came after a meeting between the three parties, called by Masclef.

Staff have not been laid off, said the exec.

?We have be reallocating people onto other projects and work for hire jobs at the moment,? he said.

?I will try to find any solution for the fans. The Witcher on console is an extremely promising title that?s awaited by a lot of people. We have it running here, and I can tell you that if it hits the shelves one day it?s going to be great? I feel sorry for the fans and I feel sorry for Namco Bandai.?

Masclef said he ?appreciated? Namco, who has signed a distribution deal with Atari of which Rise of the White Wolf formed a large part, but said he wasn?t sure if the game would ever been completed.

?I don?t know. I can?t find a financial solution by myself,? he said. ?I don?t own the IP - CD Projekt owns the IP and Atari owns the distribution rights.?

First news of the game?s cancellation came from Polish site Polygamia yesterday.

 

[DaveSimmons]

That's too bad. I hope CD Projekt isn't in danger of shutting down completely. they're also the creator of Good Old Games (gog.com) where you can buy DRM-free classic PC games like Fallout 1-2 and Freespace 2 for $5-10 each.

 

[R Nilla]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
That's too bad. I hope CD Projekt isn't in danger of shutting down completely. they're also the creator of Good Old Games (gog.com) where you can buy DRM-free classic PC games like Fallout 1-2 and Freespace 2 for $5-10 each.

Interesting, I had no idea they owned GOG.com.

 

[R Nilla]

Updated the OP with CD Projekt's statement. The two companies seem to be at an impasse. Hopefully they can resolve their differences and still get the game out the door, but for now things don't bode too well.

 

[Queasy]

cat fight!