There has been quite the uproar as of late regarding the Witcher 3 Collector’s Edition. Those who have pre-ordered the game on Xbox Box receive:
- The game, official soundtrack, cloth map, stickers, and a developer created compendium of the game.
- A giant, 33x24x26 cm, 100% hand painted, polystone figure of Geralt of Rivia battling a Griffin.
- Collector grade Witcher medallion.
- One of a kind steelbook.
- 200 page artbook.
- Two Gwent card decks (the official Witcher card playing game).
- Outer and inner collectable boxes to store all the merchandise in.
Fans were outraged at this. Why didn’t those who pre-ordered the game on PC or PS4 receive these gifts? Naturally, this being the internet, the outrage was widespread on social media sites such as Reddit.
CD Projekt has officially responded to this:
“Looking at the heated comments, I believe that our announcement of the physical addition of two decks of Gwent cards and a cloth map, requires a further word from us.
Here at CD Projekt Red, we always put gamers first. Our PC versions are released DRM-free, we bend over backwards to give you the most beefed up editions of our games (be it standard or Collector’s), and we deliver the same game, regardless of platform or version you buy. Moreover, we promised not have any exclusive DLCs, neither per platform nor per retailer, and we do stand by our promise–nothing has changed, nor will change in this regard.
Don’t get me wrong, I do understand that these extra items might be desirable for Witcher fans playing the game on other platforms. However, as we are not offering any platform or retail exclusive DLCs or any other form of gameplay differentiation, we do have to find other ways to support our partners. We are also providing special pre-order items for certain retailers around the world, including Witcher comic books, posters, steel books or medallions. Funnily enough, we did not notice any heated comments on the pre-order specials.
What is the reason? Why are we doing this? We need the support of partners to make our game visible worldwide. This should hopefully translate to better sales, which will in consequence allow us to do what we have been doing for the last 10 years, i.e. reinvest this money to make more great RPGs, while still sticking to our values.
If you still consider that adding two decks of Gwent cards and a map of the in-game world to the Xbox One CE equals us betraying our values and not fulfilling our promises, well, it does make us sad, but the final call is always yours to make.
Still, I do hope that what we offer is unique and we can ask you to give us the benefit of the doubt. We have more great things to announce for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in the coming months and I promise you won’t be disappointed (yes, yes, there are no more exclusives coming).”
This seems like a fair enough reason. The response was mature and made relatively quickly. CD Projekt clearly cares about their fans, and even though certain physical items are exclusive to the Xbox One, as stated above, absolutely nothing has changed about the actual game itself.
What do you guys make of this? Let me know in the comments. Personally I see no problem in this. Sure, I would’ve loved some collectible items being a huge Witcher fan myself, but chances are you’ll be able to grab them online soon after launch.
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