Witcher dev: Blocking used sales 'can be a bad thing'

Weren't these same guys whining about piracy earlier in the year? Maybe once they have lost a ton of money on used console game sales, their opinion will be different. It will certainly be more relevant.

@ebrezzy1 - Dude, I wish I could 'thumbs up' your comment more than once...

Stopping used games will only make things worse. The games are so expensive new that the gamers either will stop buying or go to piracy.

I wish projekt red had more games so i could support them further, maybe i'll start buying everybody I know copies of The Witcher 2 as gifts just as an excuse

It's good to see game developers taking the gamers' side.

earlier this month? It was yesterday

right, the blocking of used sales if ever gone through will be seeing more pissed off consumers that feel ripped off n lesser known games just being left to collect dust. I know for a fact if it wasn't cuz of used games i would never have tried out a lot of games. this will also make less devs makin new ips n sticking more then ever now to a formula already used like call of dutying every game. used sales is how a fan base grows for a game by word of friends n family is more powerful then any review or ad can produce. also i feel the need for devs to push themselves will grow even less with the known fact that well they can't get it used so we can't lose.

@SeriousSean And how do you resell a digital copy? Anyway I hope that this means they have now changed for the better. :D

Respect, great company.

@yasso Why so it would end up like Skyrim? Not gonna happen anways.

@scout7 The DRM only came with the retail version as a requirement from the publishers, as I understand it. The digital distribution version never came with it (except for the Steam version, I suppose). While I have to agree that fining the alleged pirates (in Germany, I think) was a pretty crappy thing to do, once they realized how unpopular it was, they stopped. How many other developers would've done that?

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"Blocking used sales 'can be a bad thing" Tell that to the (Covenant) M$...

Bravo Cd Projekt! I hope other companies take notice and follow in your footsteps.

Witcher 2 came with DRM, then they removed it. Then they fined thousands of pirates, then they stopped. And now they stab another company in the back for an issue that doesn't even relate to the PC industry. I own and love the Witcher series, but this dev is such a hypocrite.

This is why I like CD Projekt they are on of the few that actually give a fawk about gamers.

One more thing, I hope that they would please work on a PS3 version too! You can already see what Microsoft is up to with their next Xbox, and my hope is that Sony won't be so impudently fascist with their next Playstation as Microsoft is. I also would prefer to play The Witcher 2 on the PS3 anyway, and I own both consoles.

Wow, gotta love CD Projeckt Red! BTW, I have lost any urge I had whatsoever to buy the next Xbox.

Like I said before, it used games will be blocked I will just stick with PC. It will always have better graphics and also make some games last longer thanks to the modding community. Good luck microsoft, I hope that block works out for you dumbasses.

CD Projeckt seems like the only developer who knows how NOT to alienate it's customers and turn them into pirates. The irony is that their publisher bears the name of a company who did exactly that.

Hell yeah. With a track record like CD Projekt Red's, continuing to patch their games, improve them, update them, then improve them yet again and again, and add more content, listen to feedback about difficulty and tweak it, add interactive tutorials, and with statements like this from them, I swear that this is a company that would inspire me to passionately support them with more than just money paid for their games. Heck, IF I ever downloaded a pirated copy of one of their games, they would inspire me to go back and PAY for it, buy it, even if I finished it 3 times already! Why? Because THIS is the kind of company that should make almost ANY gamer feel guilty about not supporting it with our hard-earned money, because they work hard and they do it first FOR the gamer, for their customers, THEN for profit, as evidenced by their statements above. I am so proud of these guys, and screw Blizzard itself and all other companies that support DRM fanaticism and SOPA intellectual-terrorism. Keep it up, CD Projekt Red, and may you develop the next big MMO one day.

So I'm just curious about all these stop buying used crap put out by game studios. How exactly would I go about buying a copy of say....Oblivion if I can not buy it new? I highly highly doubt the local gamestop will have NEW copies of a 5yr old game, and I doubt, actually I know that the local box stores wouldn't carry anything that old. I think its time to rethink strategies here, if your going to get all pissy about buying used games at launch, then your going to have to put your money where your mouth is and keep releasing new copies of games years down the road. And I know they won't do this, if you want to play COD4 for the begining of the soap/price story, I doubt IW is going to be selling new copies of a 4yr old game....how would they justify any of the prices. Its just a whole mess....how do you buy a "new" game 4yrs after release...what do you charge for it. At least these guys recognized its just a load of garbage by studies so they can leave stuff out of games, force people to buy new to have access to this "extra" content.

Good for CD Project :D. I hope that means that their future console and PC games will be resellable and free of any intrusive DRM.

they made the switch from blaming piracy to blaming 2nd hand games pretty fast, what next?, blame negative reviews?

Words cannot express how much I love this studio, this developer, and this game. I almost want to buy another copy of The Witcher 2. This company deserves respect.

It's nice to know that some game companies don't think people that buy used games are, if not worse, just as bad as software pirates. I personally don't buy used games right now, but I have in the past - it was the only way I could get a copy of something no longer in production. Maybe the future is to sell the game for $10, and if you want the full game, you can unlock it for the rest of the cost.

CD Projekt their games are awesome and their games are something you wanna keep with you as a reminder that you supported a dev that creates a great game. Moves like the rumored xbox program will kill the industry in the long run.

@Xenogears_Rocks True. Ever since Microsoft entered the Market, Gaming has degenerated.

CD Projekt Red has yet to release a single console game so they have not felt the pain of used game resales. Easy for them to dismiss it. And they sure are sending mixed singles about piracy. A few months back they were going after pirates like rambo.

"CD Projekt Red managing director says the studio's plan is to give players reasons to buy their games new and keep them instead of trading them in." The first time I ever felt bad about pirating a game. I am so going to buy this now. CD Projekt deserves your money. It does not bombard you with a half-made game completed through dozens of overpriced DLC, it listens to it's fans, it even embraces the reality that gamers can't always buy game new. These guys deserve the money. Want people to buy your game? What should you do? Make cheap and vile tricks like half made releases, Online passes and pre-order bulls***? NOPE. Make it worth it.

Thank god because for every idiots who defend this used games is evil scam there are people with common sense who know that doing idiotic rumored measures from MS would really hurt the industry in the long run. I really love CD Projects games and I would always buy it new to support this guys cause when they release a game you can pretty much tell the game is complete and not cut out to be sell as DLC later.

@svaubel = AWESOME. Case closed! The industry needs more arguments like this to survive or else the corporates will destroy the market. Just look at what these creeps did to our environment, and are still at it!!! They kill ideas until nothing is left for profit and they move on to kill other things, all this while the laber force behind it is left to starve. "svaubel Posted Feb 7, 2012 12:35 pm PT More games need to have a reason to not want to trade them in- such as just being a GOOD game- or have preorder incentives in such a way to reward early buyers over trying to punish used buyers. A game system that blocks used games I will not buy, period. If anything destorys the game industry it will be the publishers and their BS business ideals."

How about if you have the orginal game to a sequel you get a bonus for keeping the copy. This blocking stuff is "Stupid", this dlc, game passes. I have an xbox in my game room and living room I hate how I can't play a game from one console to the other, because of I live in Ny(adirondacks Mt) I have no high speed internet in my area, so now I get screwed because of all the failure attempts to prevent used game sales.... Hey publishers I buy and keep every game I bought, I like playing a game I haven't played in 2-4 years. If a sequel comes out i'll play all the games prior to the sequel release again. Make quality products and this will improve your buisness but it won't resolve this issue. Nothing probably will, but you'll be hurting your hradcore gamers like me who buy and keep all high quality products publishers make.

Thumbs up this is you didnt trade in your copy of The Witcher 2 after you finished with it.

The developers who are making great games that people are really excited to play dont need to whine and complain about stinking pirating and used game sales. Notice that?

It's just too bad used game shops won't offer a share of used game sales to the publishers.

Next idea: A GPS on the console that lock the location when you turn it on the first time so you can't lend it to a friend or sold it afterwards.

Finaly someone who talks some sense. He's totaly right on the issue.

@DeFiLeDTitan - That's not how intellectual property works. You are purchasing a copy of the product for your personal use. The owner of the rights to the intellectual property matains the right to tell you how that property can be used, which could include not allowing for resale of your copy if so stated in the Terms of Use.

And this is from a dev. whose supposedly "great" game was pirated 4 copies for every 1 legit sale. Very gutsy, CD. So, why won't PC gamers buy games? Maybe they're not the kind of people who like to spend money. Maybe DRM works pretty well, against the majority of pirates anyway, and because they don't like it, they complain like heck about it. That or Witcher 2 isn't as good as everyone says it is.

Support them, BUY the Witcher and Witcher 2. It's humiliating Skyrim to have 10 million sales with the bugged crap they published and a true story-orianted RPG to be at 0,6 millions. Go to their official sites and see how much they support their community, listening to their needs and suggestions. SUPPORT CD PROJEKT

If Microsoft goes through with this new xbox scheme I won't be buying it whatsoever, bad enough the first console was a buggy piece of junk now they want to control the industry which won't only hurt the gamers but also other stores that take trade ins, gamestop, best buy, the exchange, and local used and new game retailers. Microsoft better get ready, if gamers can unite against SOPA in a hurried frenzy then I'm pretty sure their life blood (the customer) can control them.

Just about every market has a used market. You don't see Ford whining about used car dealerships. If these companies would offer their own trade in value towards their new games, I'd gladly trade them back as opposed to Gamestop. But what's my alternative? Hang on to an environment killing plastic box with a plastic disc that I don't want and is utterly worthless?

YESSSSS these guys get it! Exactly what I've been saying! Respect for these guys just skyrocketed.... :D

And somehow, the Atari 2600, NES, SNES/Genesis, PSX, PS2, all those generations of consoles somehow survived used game sales. But now the industry is going to "fall apart" because of it, whut?

Yep, the console that blocks used games will be the one to fail during the next generation.

More games need to have a reason to not want to trade them in- such as just being a GOOD game- or have preorder incentives in such a way to reward early buyers over trying to punish used buyers. A game system that blocks used games I will not buy, period. If anything destorys the game industry it will be the publishers and their BS business ideals.

CDProjekt RED uses Morale Boost It's super effective!

Thank you CD Projekt Red Managing Director for going against this. I have the first Witcher. Great game I just can't get into the control layout (tried multiple layouts nothing felt natural) . Still like I said great game. Will be getting when I have the time. But I have every system known to man. With the exception of the Wii and handhelds. And a lot of my games are used cause I do have the time to invest $60+ dollars into a new game. Now I do buy news ones when it calls for it midnight releases, special editions, and GOTY. But other than used. And like to thank you for the support that many don't have the time or money for a $60+ game.

If used game stores offered a share of the proceeds from used game sales to the publishers, it would be beneficial to both gamers and publishers.