Back in October of last year, we reported on a bit of a kerfuffle between The Witcher video game developer CD Projekt Red and author of The Witcher books Andrzej Sapkowski. Basically, Sapkowski wasn't happy with how much money he'd received from the studio in order to use his work as the basis for its games. A deal was struck between the two parties years ago -- before the release of the first Witcher title -- but rather than demand ongoing royalties or anything like that, Sapkowski settled for a lump sum at the time because he didn't think CD Projekt Red's series would be a success.
Obviously Sapkowski was wrong, and following the huge success of The Witcher 3, the writer entered into something of a legal dispute with the developer. He demanded more money, claiming that he wasn't paid for any of The Witcher games past the original instalment. Reportedly, $16 million was Sapkowski's price.
CD Projekt Red stated that it wouldn't budge, however, calling Sapkowski's claims "groundless". The whole thing went silent for a while, but now we've learned that the Polish studio will indeed offer Sapkowski compensation.
It seems as though the two parties have come to an understanding, although the developer certainly won't be handing $16 million over. The compensation will be a "much lower" amount according to Polish publication Puls Biznezu, with CD Projekt Red looking to "maintain a healthy relationship" with the author.
A statement from CD Projekt Red reads: "It is the Company’s will to maintain good relations with authors of works which have inspired CD PROJEKT RED’s own creations. Consequently, the Board will go to great lengths to ensure amicable resolution of this dispute; however, any such resolution must be respectful of previously expressed intents of both parties, as well as existing contracts."
All's well that ends well, we suppose?
[source pb.pl, via wccftech.com]
Comments 19
Sapkowki's books are a fantastic read but the guy himself sounds like a right grumpy old git. I reckon he based Geralt on himself.
Maybe about $1 million then? Glad it's sorted anyway.
@ApostateMage The main reason I haven't read the books is how putt off I am by the guy. Every interview I have read from him he comes off like a real jerk.
Nice one CD projekt. And glad the author also accepted. A win-win although legally CD projekt didn't have too. How refreshing.
Lotta respect for that company. Day 1 buy for CB. Everyone needs to watch noclip witcher documentary.
I kept reading online how there was no way they'd ever do that. Guess all those people were wrong, which is far from surprising.
@Splat Don't let that put you off reading his books. Honestly, they are really good, full of great characters and often quite humourous. It also makes playing The Witcher games better because you get all the references.
@Splat My disdain for the developer was one of the reasons it took me so long to finally play The Witness. It was an interesting experience, though, so I'm glad I did.
One case I can't get over is John Scalzi, though. I owned Old Man's War for years, having always intended to read it after hearing how it was a modern classic of military sci-fi. And then I made the mistake of reading the author's posts on social media (primarily Twitter). I've never wanted to punch a guy so badly in my life. I finally just ended up selling the book, as I don't think I can separate author from creation enough to enjoy it in this case.
Hopefully they deducted the legal fees from what they intended to give him.
@Mikethemosher Totally agree on the noclip docs. I'd say the one about the formation of CD Projekt Red is just as good. Everyone should look them up if they haven't already.
A good will gesture, I imagine 3 million something, zloty / dollars
Yeah, this is a good all round job. I know people are saying that he doesn't deserve it because he's a bit of a git, but let's be honest - if the company was EA or Activision we'd all be thumping our fists on the table.
This carte-blanc contract was signed with 2004-ish CD Projekt, who were a super small company who released a eurojanky game called The Witcher with it, who could have seen they would become what they have? With money from cameos in other games flowing in? If I was the author you'd bet I'd want to get the contract changed.
You made the wrong financial decision and should have been man enough to admit you made an error. I would have told him to ... off.
@YETi ya but u didnt so ... off
@NintendoFan4Lyf In this case he chose a lump sum because he thought the games would fail. He could has a royalty. He thinks low of everything but books. He tried to claim that his books made the games popular over here and not the other way around
@NintendoFan4Lyf @Jaz007 Yeah The Witcher series is a crazy success story when you think about it. The difference in quality between the first and third games is insane. I doubt CDPR ever saw the franchise taking off like that, never mind the author back before the original Witcher released.
Wild Hunt was really a perfect storm. It had been years since Skyrim, which in a lot of ways popularised the modern fantasy RPG game as a mainstream genre, and people were hungry for another RPG blockbuster. On top of that, current-gen consoles were just hitting their stride, and The Witcher 3 hit at a time when it almost seemed like the first truly "next-gen" game. It wasn't cross-platform, it looked incredible, and it raised the bar for the entire genre.
So yeah, I think many would have done the same as Sapkowski back in the day, even if it did mean that he'd be kicking himself years later.
I've never read the books (not a fan of books generally), and I've never played the games as I'm not an RPG fan. But I've followed the story, and I think CDPR have been extremely generous to do this, since the general consensus had seemed to be that the guy really didn't have a legal leg to stand on.
That said, I was watching a Heel vs Babyface video about it earlier, and as he says, the guy hasn't actually done too badly from it, despite his decision to take the lump sum. He may not have gotten any royalties from the game, but the game very likely boosted his book sales massively, and of course Netflix have snapped up rights to make a series, so he very likely got a small fortune from that too. The video, is anyone wants to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3KL9KSlgaU
@JoeBlogs
That's not how IPs work. If you want to make a new commercial project on an existing IP you have to work it out with the IP holder and pay them a reasonable sum.
He made his choice. He should not be getting anything.
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