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[Trojita]

https://www.cdprojekt.com/en/media/...-with-witcher-books-author-andrzej-sapkowski/

CD PROJEKT, creators of “The Witcher” series of games and upcoming role-playing game “Cyberpunk 2077”, together with Andrzej Sapkowski, author of “The Witcher” books, would like to inform that today both parties signed an agreement further solidifying their relationship.

“We’ve always admired Mr. Andrzej Sapkowski’s works — a great inspiration for the team here at CD PROJEKT RED,” says Adam Kiciński, President and Joint CEO, CD PROJEKT. “I believe today marks a new stage in our continued relationship,” Kiciński concludes.

The agreement satisfies and fully clarifies the needs and expectations of both parties, past and present, and sets out a framework for the future cooperation between the two sides.

The agreement grants CD PROJEKT new rights, as well as confirms the company’s title to “The Witcher” intellectual property in video games, graphic novels, board games, and merchandise.

I always thought he was salty for taking the immediate cash payment and then complaining later, but this is a good thing for both the game company and Sapkowski the author.

 

[BouncyFrag]

This bodes well for future Witcher games especially with new content/narratives. One thing that CDPR impressed me with was that they created Gaunter O’dim on their own.

 

[TeamGhobad]

if it wasn't for the games nobody would know who he is.

 

[haxan7]

I wonder how much $$ he got out of them.

 

[ethomaz]

At the end justice was made.
But that was clear from the beginning... the lawsuit has one only result.

 

[Pirog123]

if it wasn't for the games nobody would know who he is.
Yeah, except for the game makers who pulled him out of complete obscurity.
LOL

 

[ethomaz]

if it wasn't for the games nobody would know who he is.
Yeah, except for the game makers who pulled him out of complete obscurity.
LOL

You are right.
The book sold over 5 million in Eastern Europe before the first game come out.

Edit - Fixed the actual data.

 

[isual]

to be fair, the author is in poland, so, whatever the cash settlement is paltry in comparison to the dollar equivalency that CDP made from the success.

 

[kraspkibble]

maybe he can stop crying and bitching now. i'm sure CDPR gave him enough cash to finally stop complaining and being so salty.

all i care about is that they obviously will be doing more Witcher games. i couldn't give a rats ass fuck about Andrzej. if CDPR were truly done with Witcher they'd have just told him to keep crying.

False.
The book sold over 10 million before the game.

before.

how many has it sold since?

he might have sold 10m before the games but let's not kid ourselves on here....most people had no idea who the hell he was until the games came out.

 

[manuels]

I mean a netflix show, one of the biggest and best rpgs.... dude had to come around at some point lol money lol

 

[Pirog123]

What is false? TeamGhobad ridiculous statement or my reply?

 

[ethomaz]

before.

how many has it sold since?

he might have sold 10m before the games but let's not kid ourselves on here....most people had no idea who the hell he was until the games came out.

I don't know.
The only think is the sales before the game come out.

BTW I fixed the post because the correct number is "Over 5 million in Eastern Europe before the first game come out".

What is false? TeamGhobad ridiculous statement or my reply?

Ohhh yeap the TemGhobad statement.
Sorry the confusion I was got by your sarcasm.

 

[Pirog123]

"Over 5 million in Eastern Europe before the first game come out".
Well, I don't know where you took that number from, frankly i find it too high and exaggerated, especially when some nebulous term as "Eastern Europe" is used but Sapkowski was most popular, besides Poland, in Czechia, Russia and Spain -those are countries where whole Witcher saga was published, unlike for instant, Germany where Last Wish was published already in 1998, but didn't sell well and further books were translated after the games success.

Generally sucess of Witcher seems to me to be connected with level of involvement from translators (and game developers of course) -whenever they were personally fans of Witcher -like czech russian and spanish translators Witcher gained popularity and whenever it was just another day at the office (like English translation seems to me) Witcher needed a crutch like game or tv show to gain popularity.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

This bodes well for future Witcher games especially with new content/narratives. One thing that CDPR impressed me with was that they created Gaunter O’dim on their own.

Gaunter was such a great character and that was some of the best DLC I've ever played in a game.

 

[plushyp]

Pirog123 Quote the people who you're replying to otherwise they won't get a notification and know you're talking to them.

 

[Pirog123]

Good point, I will remember, thanks

 

[TheSadRanger]

It's good to see things have settled but Sapkowski admitted that it was his own stupid fault for taking the cash payout instead of the back end deal.

The good news is what the means for the future of the Witcher series. I need some more video game Geralt in my life.

 

[sublimit]

Good news.
Yes Sapkowski made a business "mistake" but i don't think it would have been for anyone's benefit if he would continue to feel "cheated".

 

[SirKicksalot]

I remember reading a Witcher story in 1996 in the same issue of an Eastern European literary magazine where I learned of ASOIAF.

 

[Syn Marnotrawny]

if it wasn't for the games nobody would know who he is.

Yeah, illiterate people wouldn't, because they don't read books.

 

[zeorhymer]

I hope this shuts up the author since he was the one who didn't give a rats ass about video games.

 

[Dargor]

maybe he can stop crying and bitching now. i'm sure CDPR gave him enough cash to finally stop complaining and being so salty.

all i care about is that they obviously will be doing more Witcher games. i couldn't give a rats ass fuck about Andrzej. if CDPR were truly done with Witcher they'd have just told him to keep crying.


before.

how many has it sold since?

he might have sold 10m before the games but let's not kid ourselves on here....most people had no idea who the hell he was until the games came out.

I'm sorry, you're wrong. You dont sell 1 million copies of a book (let alone 5) and nobody knows about you, every person that bought your book knows who you are, you're wrong from the onset.

You might try to say that gamers wouldn't know him and that would be a "maybe", since I'm sure plenty of gamers do read books, even if not many.

 

[Fuz]

Fuck that guy

Yes Sapkowski made a business "mistake" but i don't think it would have been for anyone's benefit if he would continue to feel "cheated".

It's not the "mistake". It's his whole attitude toward the matter, toward the Witcher games and toward all gaming. Again: fuck that guy.

 

[Siri]

if it wasn't for the games nobody would know who he is.

An ignorant post. The books have done well in Poland.

How well - enough for him to live on. I have experience in publishing, and I can assure you that any person who can actually make a living from writing fiction has done something extraordinary. I’d say that about one in five million can actually earn enough money writing to support themselves (especially since 2010 or so, when the fiction market basically flatlined).

You need to be more respectful.

 

[Dargor]

Man, I'm glad he got more money, dude deserves it. You dont write a fantasy book that sells in the millions every day.

 

[Mista]

The salty prick? Why? He was the one that gave the rights for cheap. Don’t make a fuss out of it when someone else made your thing more popular

I respect him though because I enjoyed the books a lot. Just stop being salty

 

[TeamGhobad]

Yeah, illiterate people wouldn't, because they don't read books.

lol he's not a popular author outside of poland.

 

[Syn Marnotrawny]

S Siri The saddest part is they don't have a clue how good the books are, but are shitting on the old guy.

 

[Fuz]

The books have done well in Poland.

While the rest of the world was basically completely oblivious to him and his works

lol he's not a popular author outside of poland.

*was

 

[Syn Marnotrawny]

lol he's not a popular author outside of poland.

You are wrong. He is obviously not Tolkien big, but still had a lot of fans outside of Poland.

 

[Fuz]

but still had a lot of fans outside of Poland.

Mostly thanks to CDPR.

 

[Syn Marnotrawny]

Fuz do you have problems with understanding past tense in english?

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

I wouldn't have given the miserable, bitter old asshole another penny. He knew what he signed. CDPR are officially better than me.

 

[Fuz]

Fuz do you have problems with understanding past tense in english?

Nah, it's you who have problems with reality.

 

[Syn Marnotrawny]

Fuz How many writers do you know that you didn't become aware of because of games and/or movies? Do you even read books?

 

[Lanrutcon]

Oh hey. The idiot got paid.

CDPR taking the high road.

 

[Solarstrike]

Why not? The guy has wrote enough words for at least 37.5 more Witcher games. 37 more Witcher games equals one thing. 740 more nude mods on Nexus

 

[Trojita]

For anyone unaware of what we are talking about regarding Sapkowski, here is a history lesson

When CD Project were negotiating for the rights to make The Witcher into a video game they offered Sapkowski a sum of money + royalties from copies of the game sold.

Sapkowski did not believe the games would sell. He has a poor view on video games in general. Sapkowski demanded a one time lump sum of much more money instead. The small game company paid him this much higher lump sum as he wanted. When the games became very successful, due to CD Projekt's hard work, he then complained about getting what he asked for. It isn't easy for a small company to pay out a much higher lump sum, which is why money + royalties would have benefited them more early on. He then took CD Projekt to court for around $16m, claiming that the contract he signed with CD Projekt Red was only for the first game.

Sapkowski then had the audicity to claim The Witcher video games actually COST him sales worldwide.

The Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski has given an amazing interview in which he disparages video games as a narrative medium, repeats claims the games have lost him book sales, and says it was his books that made the games popular outside Eastern Europe – not the other way around.

“The belief, widely spread by CDPR, that the games made me popular outside of Poland is completely false,” Sapkowski told Waypoint of The Witcher series.

“I made the games popular. All of my translations in the West – including the English one – were published before the first game.”

The Witcher released globally on PC in October 2006. The first Witcher book released in English was The Last Wish, which arrived in 2007, and the first novel, Blood of Elves, wasn’t published in English until 2008.

The author has said in the past that The Witcher games have lost him as many book sales as it brought in, and asked about this maintained that it “would be about equal, yes”.

By contrast Dmitry Glukhovsky, maker of the Metro book series that the same titled games are based on, is very appreciative of the sales that the games have brought to his books.

Dmitry calls Sapkowski out on his bullshit

"I think that he's totally wrong, and that he's an arrogant motherfucker," says Dmitry Glukhovsky from his Moscow flat, in response to Sapkowski's claim.

 

[Syn Marnotrawny]

Sapkowski did not believe the games would sell

No wonder. They bought rights to create a game based on the IP in 97' and didn't even finish making the game. How should he know they won't fuck up again? The polish game industry wasn't in the best state at the time to say it mildly, so the amount of money they offered wasn't bad. Btw. Glukhovsky can get fucked together with his communist comrades.

 

[Lanrutcon]

No wonder. They bought rights to create a game based on the IP in 97' and didn't even finish making the game. How should he know they won't fuck up again? The polish game industry wasn't in the best state at the time to say it mildly, so the amount of money they offered wasn't bad. Btw. Glukhovsky can get fucked together with his communist comrades.

And Sapkowski can get fucked with his whining and arrogance. He's lucky CDPR chose to be the bigger man here after they put him on the map.

 

[Syn Marnotrawny]

And Sapkowski can get fucked with his whining and arrogance. He's lucky CDPR chose to be the bigger man here after they put him on the map.

He was ripped off and deserved the money. They should just give it to him, even out of human decency.

 

[Pirog123]

And Sapkowski can get fucked with his whining and arrogance. He's lucky CDPR chose to be the bigger man here after they put him on the map.

Chose… Was forced to choose more likely. Law was on Sapkowski side and right in my opinion too.

 

[Pirog123]

I remember reading a Witcher story in 1996 in the same issue of an Eastern European literary magazine where I learned of ASOIAF.

Eastern European literary magazine - there is not such thing - literature is litteraly connected with language not geografical area

 

[fermcr]

The author behaved like a dickhead during all this process.
All the best to CD PROJEKT ... the book author deserves crap.

 

[A Most Virtuous Cat]

if it wasn't for the games nobody would know who he is.

It it weren't for him, there would be no games

 

[MadYarpen]

Before calling Sapkowski an idiot please be aware his son died with cancer this June. I think he needed money to try to save him. He was 47. So... Yeah, fuck cancer

I found out only recently, but it changes perspective...

 

[DeliciousDoc]

They should give him access to anything he wants on gog.com . He could then learn why games are worth his attention.

 

[Rentahamster]

I'm glad this came to an amicable conclusion. Even though he was kinda dumb about it, artists do deserve to get compensated for their IP. Hopefully he's more grateful from here on out to them for taking his work and elevating it to a global scale. If it wasn't for them, no one would know who the fuck he is.

 

[Pirog123]

They should give him access to anything he wants on gog.com . He could then learn why games are worth his attention.

He plays games - he likes chess and bridge - those are games for intelligent people in his opinion not silly video games

 

[Lanrutcon]

He was ripped off and deserved the money. They should just give it to him, even out of human decency.

False.

His stupidity is not them "ripping him off".

Hopefully he's learned his lesson.