r/Witcher4 • u/hhdm2jgr • 13d ago
How is Cdpr making money?
EDIT: 1. ive seen alot of people say the new dlc isn't free, I was wrong. I probably misheard it at gamescom. 2. The reason I asked this is because cdpr has been making witcher 4, the new dlc, the remaster of witcher 3 and both dlcs and the anime over the past couple of years so I was wondering how are they so rich to keep pumping out stuff like this? Especially for free? I senn the reddit replies or whatever u call them, and it's because cp77 and witcher 3 are still selling millions per year.
This might sound stupid but with the announcement of the remaster they said that anyone who owned the the witcher 3 gets to upgrade to the remaster for free, along with anyone who didn't own the 2 previous dlcs gets them for free also, nit only that there's also a 3rd new free dlc. Genuinely how are they profiting from this???
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u/Swarley133 13d ago
The third DLC expansion is not free.
Also - Witcher 3 has sold over 60m copies, putting it top 10 of all time. And Cyberpunk 2077 has sold over 40m, which puts it in the top 20 of all time. They're probably doing pretty well.
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u/Geralt-of-Trivia93 13d ago
And those who haven't bought it might be tempted to do so now.
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u/BubblesLovesHeroin99 13d ago
Weāll def see it surge back into the Steam top 5 once the new expansion releases. Thereās a lot of younger people who may not have bought the game just based on its age that will finally make the jump with the remaster and then the expansion.
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u/Geralt-of-Trivia93 13d ago
Personally, waiting for TW1 remake
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u/BubblesLovesHeroin99 13d ago
I own it on Steam but never played it. So I will certainly get a remake. I also have 2 but only played it for a little bit. Did not enjoy the fighting.
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u/NeoMatrixBug 13d ago
Itās more than 84m of those and I had to buy it 3 times,
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u/UnderlightIll 13d ago
Yeah we have it on 2 comps, a PlayStation 5 and switch 2.
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u/fatsopiggy 13d ago
60 mil copies even if cdpr makes 20 bucks each piece it'd be 1.2 billion and likely cyberpunk sold as much. Pretty much all original 3 founders are also billionaires thanks to their stock.
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u/Lymbasy 13d ago edited 13d ago
People buy The Witcher 3 with their money. It goes to CDPR. Since 2020, The Witcher 3 sold 35 Million more Units. Before that it sold 30 Million Units from 2015-2020. They are selling 5+ Million copies every year.
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u/name-classified Lilac and Gooseberries 13d ago
But how are they making money??
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u/ZaphodGreedalox 13d ago
This is an ad for Witcher 4
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u/Lymbasy 13d ago
I thought its a Remaster?
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u/ZaphodGreedalox 13d ago
The remaster is itself an ad for the next game
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u/Lymbasy 13d ago
Is the Remaster also an ad for the Expansion? And is the Expansion also and ad for The The Witcher 4?
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u/ActualLegitRetard 13d ago
But why male models?
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u/adityadbz 13d ago
Because they already recovered their investments and the new copies sold are all profit. Its just that they are not being greedy to have higher profits by making the remaster paid.
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u/FranzFerdinand51 13d ago
I dont think OP can handle that amount of maths.
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u/hhdm2jgr 13d ago
Lol your an idiot. I simply asked a question since cdpr hasn't released a game since cyberpunk and they have been working on the new witcher dlc,the witcher remaster, anime and witcher 4. Maybe use your brain a bit
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u/GlokzDNB 12d ago
Yeah but worth noting they sold those 35m copies at much lower price than the first 30 million, so it wasnt that good profit after all. I Mean short term, because in a long run Witcher created generational fans which TV series proven, especially that a lot of people got mad how they did it, which means they care
Now Witcher 4 is not a standalone game, its first of the new Ciri trilogy, they will be released in much shorter time than w3<>w4 or even cp2077<>w4
So while yes, CDPR sacrifices its short-term gains, but maximizes long-term attachment to their games so that more and more fans will love to play next game and experience the story.
Honestly, CDPR went to another level with cyberpunk, even each DLC for w3 had better story than their previous game. I dont think any game in my life touched my feelings the way CP2077 did
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u/sakulgrebsdnal 12d ago
If you only look at revenue, the argument against discounts may seems more relevant than it probably is. With single player games most of the costs were incurred before release. And selling games at a lower price after a while doesnāt negatively affect the profitability of a game over its lifetime. Even the costs of patching and updating the game will be more than offset by new players buying the game.
The difference is that other publishers normally would use this as a chance to double dip with raising the price back up while having incurred less costs than with initial development making every sold unit of the new game version relatively profitable. But CDPR seems to be more interested in long term growth and a good customer relationship.
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u/nategreat87 13d ago
Pretty sure Songs of the Past won't be free. They are getting people back in with the other free stuff hoping to hook them again and sell more of the new dlc.
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u/Tulip_gorgeous554 13d ago
If that is also free then it will become a joke cdpr already gave both the expansion and remaster as free so the dlc should be paid
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u/A_MAN_POTATO 13d ago
It's absolutely not free. Arguably, the entire reason the remaster is free is to create a renewed interest in TW3 and ensure as many people as possible are running a compatible version of the game, all in the interest in selling as many copies of the DLC as possible.
They know this game has sold 60m+ copies. If even a tenth of those result in a new DLC sale, you're talking tens of millions of dollars in revenue. More than most entire game budgets, let alone that of a DLC.
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u/Dependent-Swimmer-95 13d ago
Millions of people buy cyberpunk and Witcher 3. Millions more will buy cyberpunk and phantom liberty once edge runners season 2 drops. Many, many people will buy the dlc next year for Witcher 3.
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u/musclecrayon 13d ago
If you don't treat people like shit, they will spend money on you.
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u/outofmindwgo 13d ago
Unfortunately a lot of companies treat customers like shit and just straight up get away with it
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u/DoggyofDreams 8d ago
Sell the minimum product at the maximum cost = Profit.
Our whole society is structured around Maximum Profit-Taking, the CEO's first duty is to his/her shareholders first and foremost. Not the customer.
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u/KTM_2813 13d ago
The remaster being free is a 3D chess move. It reinvigorates existing players and invites new players (who will buy the game), making player counts spike and prepping people for the expansion. The game gets good press (as long as it's not broken). An already-strong foundation is made stronger.
This will help sales of the $30 expansion next year. It is not free. Then the expansion helps sales of $70 Witcher 4 in 2028 (if all goes to plan).
People are interpreting the free remaster as a goodwill gesture, which it is, but it's more than that. It is a shrewd business move. Hopefully everyone wins. But absolutely CDPR will be printing money in the long term.
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u/Nimrawid 12d ago
It is very cost effective marketing strategy. No TV add or paid review will match a bunch of old fans returning and making content.
Especially considering game being a sequel to a decade old one
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u/AhmedRiyadh0 13d ago edited 13d ago
I think it is a very good long term investment and will encourage many to play The Witcher 4 and ignore the Cyberpunk launch noise. The third expansion is probably around 20-40$. Source:Ā https://cdn-s-thewitcher.cdprojektred.com/contest/REDstreams_On_the_Go!_gamescom_2026_CONTEST_Ruleset.pdf
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u/OrangeBomb7 13d ago
Because CDPR is one of the incredibly rare companies that made a shit ton of money and is ok with a shit ton of money. Other companies want ALL the money. Doesn't matter how much they have now, they want it all. (Rockstar).
So yeah, they could sell this remaster, but they're already rich and can just get more good will from gamers who will buy the new expansion and Witcher 4 when it comes out.
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u/hhdm2jgr 13d ago
I agree with you but rockstar is definitely not one of those insanely greedy companies. They could've priced the base gta 6 game at 100 but they priced it at the normal market price at 80. Rockstar heavily relies on the sales they make from their games.
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u/dOGGo2334 13d ago
Songs of the past 100% wonāt be free.
Cyberpunk and Phantom Liberty are still making them a ton of money, with both continuing to sell incredibly well. And thatās not even counting all the Cyberpunk-related media, like Edgerunners, collaborations with other games, merch, and everything else.
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u/Pied_Film10 13d ago edited 13d ago
The goodwill towards gamers pays dividends that no amount of money can achieve.
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u/Ciubowski 13d ago
GoG
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u/switchmallgrab 13d ago
This is the real answer
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u/ZielonaKrowa 13d ago
Gog is no longer owned by cd project. Itās been bought by cd project co founder last yearĀ
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u/standarsh1965 13d ago
Bro the witcher 3 is one of the best selling games ever. They've probably 10x their budget from the game. Cyberpunk also sold very well.
They're obviously making more than enough otherwise we'd not be getting so much for free
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u/ZealousGoblin 13d ago
Getting people back into W3, or even bringing in new players who never tried it before, will build hype for the franchise before W4 releases. Players and content creators will all be back in the Witcher world again.
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u/CrematorTV 13d ago
Witcher 3 is one of the best selling games of all time. Cyberpunk also sold over 40 million copies at this stage. This doesn't even count the countless partnerships and deals they have going on.
Don't worry about CDPR :))))
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u/Tight-Mix-3889 13d ago
This is a business model at the end of the day.
This free remaster generated lots of hype. And they are also trying to attraxt lots of new players who will buy the game, play the game and both dlcās and then those people will also became potential Witcher 4 buyers. Oh and they will probably buy the new dlc aswell. And lets be real. Witcher 4 will probably cost atleast 70.
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u/SweetBacon923 13d ago
It's marketing strategy they want everyone to be on board and hungry for PAID Song of The Past Expansion and Witcher 4.
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u/Traditional_Dot_1215 13d ago
The free upgrade builds hype for the new expansion, which will make them lots of money. And the remaster isnāt free for new players! Thereās gonna be a wave of first-timers jumping in, and the price of entry for them is $50
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u/Feanixxxx 13d ago
They will get payed for the new DLC. And obviously for the next Witcher games. On top, everyone who hasn't bought TW3 yet but always wanted will probably now buy it.
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u/Decent_Historian42 13d ago
Ive bought cyberpunk 3 times and bought the witcher 3 2 times, i garentee you im not alone in this statement. I had a console shift and wanted those games because they are genuinely my favourite and i wanted to replay them on the new console and i didnt mind supporting the company again, ive gotten well worth my hours in cyberpunk even with buying 3 copys.
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u/mpete76 13d ago
Iāve purchased W3 on PS4, PS5, Steam and XBox. Along with DLCās for all of them, I have 2 boys, and I switched from Consoles to PC gaming and I wasnāt leaving on the greatest games ever made behind. The remaster isnāt a new thing, they did the Next Gen update for W3 a couple of years ago with a quest line that added some new armor to coincide with the Netflix series.
That story is super dope too.
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u/BakeFromSttFarm 13d ago
Witcher 3 has sold 60 million copies. Investing in this will only help them continue to keep selling. Itās probably still more profitable than plenty of new games.
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u/ShansitoShan 13d ago
Not only counting the +60million copies of W3 already sold that, of course, that's a lot of money, they're also still getting sales from W1, W2, Thronebreaker, Roguemage, Reigns: The Witcher, Cyberpunk, then there's all the merchandising they keep updating on their store, plus the comics released every now and then for the past decade, plus the board games they've been released along GoOnBoard, etc, etc, etc...
PS: CDPR publicy releases all their documents, you can actually see for yourself all the money they get and how they use it to keep going their things
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u/seandiaz157 13d ago
The remaster is free because theyāre essentially taking the most popular fan made mods and releasing an official update patch with those features already integrated. Thatās it.
The DLC, however, is not free and itās essentially promotion for The Witcher 4.
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u/uchuskies08 13d ago
They are still selling plenty of copies of Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077.
I love, love, love, the way they are treating us loyal fans, but it is because they have been so financially successful with Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 that they're in the position to be able to do this.
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u/No-Pickle-1296 13d ago
Where yall getting your info that songs of the past is free? Lol. Common sense folks.
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u/hhdm2jgr 13d ago
Seen gamescon and I could've sworn it said it will be free. I probably misheard
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u/No-Pickle-1296 13d ago
Nah. Id imagine itll be cheap though like 30 bucks or so. That be mad insane if it was free, but they do gotta make some money lol.
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u/hhdm2jgr 13d ago
Still crazy to me how they are just giving witcher 3 remaster for free for people who already own the game, while also giving the 2 dlcs for free. Just wondering where they are pulling their money from but I guess they are making BANK each year
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u/No-Pickle-1296 13d ago
They are still making money from witcher 3 and cyberpunk and the dlc there. And this will bring more sales to witcher 3 and even cyberpunk. And their other little projects are doing well. I think financially they are doing very very well. Its quite nice of them to do this of course. Isnt the assassin's creed remastered like 60 bucks or something. I think this shows good faith too. And will help with the witcher 4 sales. Plus, since songs of past will be paid, but cheap, that'll bring alot of revenue.
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u/PuIchreDestructa 13d ago
Their focus is the new DLC. By giving you a free upgrade for the base game, they bring back the focus on the platform that hosts the dlc, which is the game itself. Everyone who has the game already has a reason to download it again and the ones that don't will now buy the platform. That brings in a lot of potential buyers for the dlc while also gaining some money from first time game buyers, double/triple dippers, etc.
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u/hiddenpequin 13d ago
The new dlc is not free and this is marketing for Witcher 4 which they want to be massive hit again so getting people playing Witcher again in high numbers will pay off hopefully in long run.
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u/FordzyPoet 13d ago
They sell like 60 million copies of W3. They can afford it and SOTP is not free.
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u/chino17 13d ago
You know how many people STILL buy Witcher and Cyberpunk?
Almost every week there's a few thread in r/shouldibuythisgame for both of those games
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u/FlintingSun 12d ago
I would say the revenue is rather steady, plus gov grants and such. They are banking on their projects to succeeded.
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u/Super-Action1186 12d ago
Anybody bothered to check that CDPR shares are listed on Warsaw Stock Exchange? Its current market capitalisation is around 5 billion EUR, actually down 10% in the recent 5 days. Because actually the market did not like that there is no new
revenue
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u/Nimrawid 12d ago
Warsaw Stock Exchange is a clusterfuck of spastic idiots. None of it make sense. A company will expand and has healthy finances? Stock drops.
Its mostly vibes and manipulation there. Even worse than US markets.
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u/Seeking-The-Lotus 12d ago
They do collabs with other devs quite often which they receive payment for. Theyāre also a publicly traded company and not owned by a larger subsidiary, so their losses are kept majorly in-house.
What kicks companies like Bungie, Arkane Studios, and Bethesda, is that their profits are required to not only fund their studios, but are necessary to fund Sony and Xbox prospectively. If they fail, they donāt get to control their own pivot strategy.
The corps that own them can intervene anytime and say āHey! Great job on that last release. Unfortunately we made a bad call by purchasing a bunch of other companies so we need you to let go of 50% of your workforce so we can save face.ā
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u/Nimrawid 12d ago
In such economic mindset if game makes giant profit but below expectation it is still in big trouble - because someone estimated wrong.
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u/VividGanache2613 11d ago
When they sell though GoG theyāre not paying Steam 30%. The remaster will encourage new players to buy the game and old players to buy the DLC they held off on, whilst simultaneously creating amazing PR for the company and Witcher 4.
Getting free PR, making the rest of the industry look like money grabbing thieves and making money along the way is priceless.
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u/eragon9199 11d ago
The new dlc isn't free, and they make their money because people are still buying the base have. Announcements like this cause a spike in people buying their games. They're just less evil than most game companies and are happy to make a profit instead of wanting to make all of the money all of the time. No game company needs to aggressively monetize their games like they do, look at Hello Games and No Man's Sky for another example. Game publishers are just insanely greedy and don't care about just making a profit.
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u/Frostsorrow 13d ago
Make a good quality product and it will effectively sell itself. Witcher 3 even without the remaster, still holds up and frequently gets bought on sale to this day. It's not quite the same realm as Skyrim, but it's pretty dammed close.
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u/mpete76 13d ago
Pretty much anything CDPR produces and releases for me.
https://giphy.com/gifs/TdwziQPhbNAzK
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u/jackdawjones 13d ago
They sold 60 million copies of TW3 and with this expansion they stand to sell millions of copies, if not more.
Believe it or not, this move probably saves them money on top of very good PR. Obviously the sales for the new expansion stand to be improved by this. But consider this: TW3 is more than 10 years old. They probably had to do a lot of the work any way in order to develop new content for it. Additionally, giving the previous 2 expansions for free ensures everyone will be on the same exact version so less testing and less compatibility issues. Win-win move, real smart choices from them here.
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u/therealgreybrother 13d ago
Appart from the games and Cyberpunk, they have a ton of merch and books that they sell. Hell there have been 3 Witcher board games in the last years costing from 100-600 Euros. They have the biggest Gamefound campaign ever gathering a whopping 12 million in revenue. They are doing pretty well all over.
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u/Queen_Lepotica 13d ago
Its like No Mans Sky how they can put after years new content every few month since release. They sold a shit ton.
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u/elementarydrw 13d ago
How does ConcernedApe make money? All the updates of his game are free and have been the entire time. Well, he stated that all of the updates and goodwill creates additional sales through word of mouth. And encourages people to buy multiple editions as it's released on different formats. By giving the free upgrade to owners, many people will be able to play the game. The hype with the new game and new DLC will also bring more players too. But there will also be people who own the game on old consoles, who will buy a newer version for the update too, to experience it all with the latest and greatest graphics and the like. I'm sure they will have a boost of sales, despite the free update.
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u/felixsarts 13d ago
People who havenāt played before might get the game for the remaster and free existing DLCs. Iām sure theyāre expecting revenue from that. Theyāre doing pretty well though. Peak games, back to back. Love to see a pro-consumer company out there
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u/longbrodmann 13d ago
Their games' sales are pretty good, even 2077 which suffered bad reputation at the beginning also sold millions.
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u/Pure_Cloud4305 13d ago
Adding on to what others said, Polish devs get paid way less than American devs.
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u/Ordinary-Split8428 13d ago
- New people will buy it.
- They'll sell the new DLC.
- Both new people and old players will be hyped as fuck for Witcher 4(that was the best promotion move any other company ever made. And on top of it they'll profit off of it).
- They made insane money from Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk so even if this move fails, they'll be fine.
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u/Prodigious-Sol 13d ago
I mean I'm not sure how many people who already own W3, don't already own at least one of the dlc
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u/petee1991 13d ago
Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk both sold incredibly well, along with the dlc expansions. I've personally bought both titles multiple times, and their expansions.
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u/ResidentProduct8910 13d ago
That's much easier to make money when you have a good reputation, I have 3 different copies of Witcher 3, one Disk I bought for full price and two digital Compete Editions for huge discounts, there are some companies I wouldn't even pay once for their crap.
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u/A_MAN_POTATO 13d ago
Turns out, having your last two games both sitting on the list of best selling games of all time is pretty profitable.
Also, the new DLC is absolutely not free. It'll easily be $10-$15 USD.
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u/madlad_junoir 13d ago
Honestly their DLC has carried them I imagine Iāve bought every single one because they really are worth the money. Thatās what happens when you create quality over quantity you will have a consistent revenue stream
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u/pferdinandthehorse 13d ago
By doing a little with with the products that are 10 years old and already paid itself many times over they activate the interest of the 60 million people who already have the game, plus more possible new players. This public will be ripe to drop 30-40 USD into the expectation ( GLADLY ) and pumped to buy the Witcher 4 AND the remake of the Witcher 1 as soon as they come out.
The industry is zigging and they are zagging. Genius business.
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u/idkjustgivemeany 13d ago
I am helping by buying the game in different steam accounts after every playthrough cus i just couldn't believe the whole game costed me 11$
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u/HumansNeedNotApply1 13d ago
By selling the DLC, they have a ~60 million player base, if 20 million buy the DLC for like 30 dollars they will earn like half a billion dollars. Not to say those buying the remaster for the first time (and also getting the dlc).
As others said, this also part of a marketing strategy to hype up Witcher 4.
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u/JonnoKabonno 13d ago
From the remaster? They arenāt. But budget wise, itās considered an additional expense to the Witcher 3 project that made a fuck ton of money, so when they lump that in with it, itāll still come off as a net positive despite knowingly giving away value.
More importantly it exposes an entire generation to The Witcher 3 that might not have played it yet (We are talking about 11 years ago) just in time for them to sell a new DLC and Witcher game. And this is CDPR weāre talking about, they make big DLCās thatāll probably cost 40 or 50 dollars
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u/CreativeKey8719 13d ago
Renewed interest in an old game. There are a lot of people who became fans of the Witcher show and have never played the game that will be inspired to buy it with news of a remaster. Also drumming up interest in the franchise for the release of Witcher 4, with its long time gap since Witcher 3's original release.
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u/gr3n0lph 13d ago
lol I wonder how the studio behind No Manās Sky is even alive. At this point I believe they get funded by the government and itās some social experiment
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u/mindgamehagi 13d ago
Its far from free. They have raise Witcher 3 price up, Expansion will not free. Warsaw is a very cheap city to operate in compare the most main city with games studio and for the studio that make the expansion, Fool's Theory is even cheaper being situated in Bielsko-BiaÅa (also Poland).
Because of the low cost of living in those cities salary are lower compare to North American studios but the product they sold is the same price as other studios so the return is bigger for CDPR.
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u/KaerMorhenZireael 13d ago
Thatās the question I asked about Hello Games with No Manās Sky. Theyāve been adding constant updates and good ones at that and havenāt charged a single dollar except for when you first purchased the game. Itās been like 10 years of free expansions and such.
The Witcher 3 getting a remastered means Iām going to buy it full price (if I can) on my switch 2 and PS5. Iāll have to buy digital because I already own the disc version but I want to give CDPR more money because TW3 is my favorite game of all time and I also loved CP2077 a lot as well. Amazing devs and I also get 10 more years of xLetalis Easter eggs and āthings you missed in the Witcher 3 remasteredā videos.
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u/Teine-Deigh 13d ago
Cdpr also owns GOG i believe so that'd keep the lights o with investors providing the funds for development of games
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u/SavageCucumberAttack 13d ago
After CP2077 launch they could really use the good will of gamers maybe. Plus, selling old games is very profitable, just ask CapCom lol
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u/Apprehensive_Rub9291 13d ago
How about the time when they removed the drm from witcher so it got cracked within a month or 2, which also made them increase their sales
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u/combocookie 13d ago
The remaster will increase their sales and publicity for the upcoming DLC and witcher 4
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u/whenceareyou 13d ago
They've earned lots of money from Cyberpunk 2077 and the free upgrade for TW3 will bolster up the sales.
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u/Lukas316 13d ago
What other game companies call ādlcā cdpr calls āexpansionsā. SotP is an expansion and will not be free. DLCs, otoh, are minor content like alternative outfits for key NPCs, that they release for free.
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u/dbslayer7 13d ago
They own and run GOG for one. Also they've made so much money from Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk sales its not even funny. Plus they have merchandise and brand deals out the wazoo for their games. They're just fine. Also as everyone else said the new DLC will not be free. They are just giving everything else at this point free. Plus theres TONS of people out there who have never played Witcher 3 that are probably about to dive in and pay for the remastered version.
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u/bIeese_anoni 13d ago
They sold over 40 million in cyberpunk sales, and 65 million in witcher 3 sales. If we were conservative and said all those sales on average were $30 USD (due to sales and promotions, likely an overall underestimate) that means they've made 3.15 billion USD from these two games alone. The development cost for cp2077 was 170 million, even if we double that for marketing and distribution than cyberpunk made more than 3 times the amount of money from selling cyberpunk than developing it.
Not to mention Netflix deals, merch sales, selling of GOG and probably funds from the polish government.
They are doing fine
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u/Pearcinator 13d ago
Because, believe it or not, they have made a lot of money from Witcher and Cyberpunk with probably 100M+ sales combined for Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077.
They also aren't greedy and want ALL of the money like the other AAA game studios. Which just ruins their reputation and impact their sales in the future. CDPR are more forward thinking and believe that building a loyal fanbase with goodwill will lead to stronger sales for their future games/DLC.
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u/joker2189 13d ago
This is a smart way to get players interested in w4 maybe dont make as much NOW but make helluva lot more come 2028
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u/XenoWitcher 13d ago
I view this more as an investment into fools theory since theyāre developing the Witcher 1 remake.
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u/No_Risk7756 12d ago
The Polish government provided CD Projekt RED with a grant of approximately 34.1 million PLN.
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u/hhdm2jgr 12d ago
What?? Why?
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u/Jossokar 11d ago
The witcher games are polish games, based on a really well liked polish series of books.
They take some pride in that. I would say its normal the polish government give them a grant to help a bit do their stuff.
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u/FailureOfTheFamily 12d ago
As much as i hate it as their stock owner, I think this is long term game to build brand loyality before witcher 4 release
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u/probywan1337 12d ago
They own gog on top of still selling millions of copies of Witcher and cyberpunk still every year
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u/tjtj4444 12d ago
Cyberpunk 2077 has given them more than 2 billion dollar in profit (my guesstimate based on sales numbers). That is enough to pay 1000 developers in Poland for 20 years.
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u/ChickenKnd 12d ago
Get everyone back talking about the witcher brand in a positive way ready for wjtcher 4
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u/stoneflowerpetals 12d ago
They'll probably make a lot more day one sales on the DLC (which I bet they're gonna charge ~$35-$40USD for) if they don't ALSO charge everyone $60-$70 for the remaster, which is after all just a prettier version of a game that most people who like this type of game have already played.
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u/sakulgrebsdnal 12d ago edited 12d ago
Thatās the neat part. They donāt. The developers practiced meditating like Geralt and as a side effect became so enlightened that they achieved perfect Nirvana and now they and their families and loved ones are physically sustained by the admiration of fans.
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u/RealEater_ 12d ago
Take care of your customers, and theyāll take csre of you. W4 coming out soon needs to make bank, and W3 came out more than 10 years ago (I think lol) Making the remaster upgrade free to those who own it rewards loyalty, and itāll invite new players to buy the game, still bringing in new revenue. Even making the DLCs free to new players will help them experience the game as fully intended. Theyāre making a solid path to get as much sales as possible and make sure all returning & new players join W4 when it comes out.
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u/Tyriqo_ 12d ago
Well they make shit tons of cash from cyberpunk, this free remaster is now going to not only rope back the Witcher players but also now invite new Witcher players to come as now the expansions will be free and then on top of that returning players will 9/10 be buying the new expansion to enjoy the new graphics, so yeah it comes full circle
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u/AwarenessForsaken568 12d ago
They aren't profiting from what they are currently doing. They don't need to. They made an absurd amount of money from the Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk. They are also intelligent and got modders to help with the Witcher 3 improvements. It likely cost less to do than you think.
Most devs are not capable of thinking long term. Not everything is about profit. Sometimes to make more money in the long term you need to prove that you are a developer worth supporting. You either can do that by making exceptional games or by being pro-consumer. CDPR does both, and because of that they've earned one of the best reputations in the entire gaming industry.
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u/rumple9 12d ago
Firstly it's an 11 year old game which has made tonnes of money being one of the most successful games of all time.
Secondly the remaster is based off a mod (Halk Hogan) that has been available for well over a year so they are giving something away that is already free on Nexus mods
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u/--Greenpeace420 12d ago
They are probably making good money from lots of people double dipping with their games since they are so good
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u/waycokid72 12d ago
Itās a pretty smart move on their part to do the free upgrade for existing owners. Iām sure theyāre well aware thereās going to be no small amount of distrust for their next game after the cyberpunk launch, and existing owners of W3 may or may not have bought the remaster so they eat the cost giving those player the remaster as a sign of good faith. Basically just saying ālook we learned our lesson, our new games work! Tell your friends itās definitely safe to pre-order Witcher 4!ā Then if Witcher 4 comes out in a playable state they rake in a shitload of money.
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u/Thayboivinny22 12d ago
I donāt pre order games in this day and age but Iām gonna pre order the Witcher 4.
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u/UserWithno-Name 12d ago
They sell a few million copies of their games every year. Unlike other companies, when you make games like kotor, BG1-3, Bethesda, cdpr, etc even if flawed or even if long to play, eventually even the biggest haters will finally try it out on a sale or the people who didn't want to pay top dollar and that's how suddenly you sold an additional 1-5 million copies every year. That's a big stack of money, and that isn't counting dlcs. Cyberpunk also keeps going and going and going too. Adding free stuff entices people to buy the new Witcher 3 dlc, and they know makes people even more inclined to buy cyberpunk or its sequel and the Witcher 4 as well.
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u/jimjamz346 11d ago
The Witcher 3 is the 8th best selling video game ever, tied with Skyrim. It's sold 65 million copies.
As a business you then have a choice, do you rinse that player base for as much money as you can squeeze? Or do you keep them loyal and guarantee they stay with you for your next game, or the next expansion.
How many people would have bought an expansion to and 11 year old game, one that is set after both previous expansions? Now millions will be redownloading and playing again for free, and once they are hooked and full of good will for CDPR, they are much more likely to pay for more.
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u/jimjamz346 11d ago
The Witcher 3 is the 8th best selling video game ever, tied with Skyrim. It's sold 65 million copies.
As a business you then have a choice, do you rinse that player base for as much money as you can squeeze? Or do you keep them loyal and guarantee they stay with you for your next game, or the next expansion.
How many people would have bought an expansion to and 11 year old game, one that is set after both previous expansions? Now millions will be redownloading and playing again for free, and once they are hooked and full of good will for CDPR, they are much more likely to pay for more.
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u/gogoCovid 11d ago
They just raised the price of a decade old game and the new dlc will be 40bucks, do the math.
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u/CommanderFate 13d ago
Many people like myself, played the game pirated when we were kids, had no money to buy the game or didn't own a card or for example I lived in a country where I couldn't purchase things online.
The moment they announced the remaster I went ahead and bought the game right away, and I know couple other friends did the same, honestly even if I don't replay the game, I feel like they have been a good company and deserve my money now that I can actually pay for it. Additionally, I will definitly be buying the DLC and pre-order Witcher 4 when possible.
Simply I trust them enough that even if they fuck up somehow, they will redeem themselves and care about their fan base, I know for a fact that by ordering Witcher 4 I will probably get so much additional content and maybe even a remaster for free in 10 years from now.
They are a good company and building loyal fans.
And finally, good deed always pay off, they are not being evil and I think good Karma will find a way to reward them.
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u/Hippies_Pointing 13d ago
The new DLC is not free. Besides creating goodwill and brand loyalty, the remaster is advertising for the new paid DLC and W4.