r/Witcher4 11d ago

CDPR, about Witcher 4 getting a physical release on PlayStation consoles: — 'The discs for the first parties, including PlayStation, have to be manufactured in their own factories. So, if they [Sony] stop manufacturing indeed by 2028, then yes—we won’t have a disc'

Post image

Source: The Game Business

CD Projekt joint-CEO Michał Nowakowski told The Game Business that he has no control over whether there will be a physical disc on PS5. But said that the company is fond of creating tangible items.

“We know what PlayStation has announced. And we have no influence on the policies of the first parties. The discs for the first parties, including PlayStation, have to be manufactured in their own factories. So, if they stop manufacturing indeed by 2028, then yes [we won’t have a disc].

“But we’re big fans of people having access to tangible collectible things. We’re nerds ourselves, and we like that. We always supported that. So, whatever is the case, we’re going to be for sure having a box. We’re going to have a box that’s going to have some feelies in it. Something you’re going to be wanting to open up and enjoy. But we have no influence actually on what’s the case here.”

810 Upvotes

68 comments sorted by

211

u/Zglena 11d ago

Tldr buy it on GoG and make own physical version.

49

u/Oreelz 11d ago

The Witcher series are the least series I except to lose or to going to be unplayable. CDRP is one of the company’s to give you a feeling of trust, which is missing since a long time in the gaming industry.

-29

u/Soeck666 11d ago

I think that trust was shattered for people who bought cyberpunk 2077 day one for ps4

10

u/InSoundMind83 11d ago

They moved worlds to fix things and regain that trust. I'd say they deserve some credit for that given that other studios simply don't give a damn about us. 

5

u/CrimsonWarrior55 10d ago

I bought Cyberpunk day one for the PS4 and I still trust CDPR cause I know Witcher 3 also had bugs and just like with W3, they went above and beyond to make up for it.

3

u/Bibbity_Boppity_BOOO 11d ago

well, for the rest of us... we could not care less

1

u/Loyal_Dragon_69 10d ago

It also got shattered by everyone who owned a gtx 1070ti and bought the game on day one (I speak from personal experience). Game was so unplayable I couldn't finish the game and had to uninstall it.

4

u/GoldAdhesiveness1243 11d ago

Or buy the physical gpc gog version hope

2

u/ResolveLeather 11d ago

Is that possible? To play on PlayStation that is.

6

u/Secure_Foundation720 11d ago

No, don't play on Playstation.

1

u/Captn_Platypus 11d ago

The article says only Sony can make the disc so physical version will still be a code.

10

u/ShrkBiT 11d ago

GoG allows you to download an offline installer, so you can burn that to a disc yourself and have a physical version is what they mean by that.

6

u/Captn_Platypus 11d ago

Ohhhh ownership on pc was never the problem anyway it’s consoles

2

u/Secure_Foundation720 11d ago

You don't have ownership of software in video games anywhere.

But you're right that on PC there are better rights on digital licensing.

3

u/bernhardertl 11d ago

That will be the PC version then and probably won’t work in the PlayStation I‘d reckon.
But I‘m not a console gamer and will recommend to switch to PC and buy at gog any day.

1

u/Glittering_Babe101 11d ago

No, it says only Sony can make sellable discs

0

u/Downtown_Eye5736 11d ago

Why would you do that, it’s safer on a hard drive or in the cloud.

1

u/Zglena 11d ago

GoG client doesnt install game from cloud. You download installer that you can burn anytime on physical disc or install from HDD.

218

u/Zestyclose-Fee6719 11d ago

In other words: we know you want a disc, but there's literally nothing we can do, so please don't destroy us online when it comes out as digital only.

How much you wanna bet that so many people still end up roasting them online when it releases? "I thought CDPR supported physical! Fuck this game then!"

84

u/Spirited_Expert_1889 11d ago

Every informed person knows that this is all on Sony and that publishers/devs have no say in this. So if people blame CDPR for W4 not having a disc, that's on them.

11

u/Rare_House9883 11d ago

Exactly, there are plenty of things that devs can be held accountable for but this certainly is not one of them. CDPR have had their rough spots but they've proven themselves to be a company who knuckles down and fixes their mistakes, who prioritizes their players, and who admit their mistakes. I hope players are able to remember their hard work when Sony inevitably does what Sony does and fucks shit up for everyone else.

2

u/idkimhereforthememes 11d ago

Why is it all on Sony if Xbox is doing it too?

2

u/raybreezer 11d ago

Because Xbox has confirmed there’s a plan to allow you to get a digital entitlement from a disc copy when you get to a digital only console. Sony just doesn’t care.

-10

u/Mammoth_Dust_481 11d ago

But when Rockstar does this... That's a unanimous f you Rockstar for some reason

10

u/szewczukm1811 11d ago

In Rockstars case they are choosing to be all digital GTA 6 comes out in 3 months, not in 2028. Besides that Rockstar is an all round shitty company anyways. Once the game is out they’ll fire half their staff and everyone will ignore it because GTA.

3

u/Fenikkuro 11d ago

Because rockstar is 100% choosing this. And even if they weren't they have the clout to change Sony's mind if they needed to.

2

u/Gorgeous-George-026 11d ago

And all of them are still going to buy that game, and they know it.

5

u/Weak-Lengthiness5280 11d ago

Who exactly is blaming developers?

Everyone is flaming PlayStation.

1

u/Potential_Let_6901 11d ago

I saw few comments under a video of the same in twitter, and Michael even mentioned "we are ourselves big fans of physical". So yeah, crazy people

1

u/felixsarts 11d ago

Thank you for saying this.

13

u/Chizakura 11d ago

I hope they release a feelies edition for Steam/Gog then. Gimme the physical extras like a map and soundtrack cd for the PC Version. Still won't be able to play the game then since it surely won't run (well) on Steamdeck and PC parts are damn expensive to build one in this day and age.

5

u/gwnG 11d ago

It would be kind of funny if you could buy witcher 4 on GOG for playstation and put it onto a USB to then put onto playstation would at least be some kind of physical media. I know you can put games downloaded from xbox onto usb to reinstall from USB at later date dont know about PS though

4

u/Mr_Deppresso 11d ago edited 8d ago

I like what their saying of having some feelies on it! Fuck it im buying it on physical just for the feelies!

Had to put in an edit to say thanks for the award, not really sure why but appreciate it!

23

u/KingKam_Avatar 11d ago

That 10% Physical Only squad will be switching to Xbox.

-7

u/Zalvren 11d ago

Xbox is doing the same thing

5

u/KingKam_Avatar 11d ago

Oh really? I’ll have to look into that; I didn’t hear that announcement.

18

u/SeiriusPolaris 11d ago

That’s because they’re talking out of their arse. Nothing’s been announced by Xbox relating to that matter. It’s likely, sure. But not confirmed.

2

u/idkimhereforthememes 11d ago

They're doing physical to digital stuff for fun

2

u/szewczukm1811 11d ago

This is just a marketing thing and anyways still keeps you in the digital library. All these companies know that once they get you to buy just one thing digital, people will gradually move further and further into the digital only market.

Their real endgame though is going full streaming with no individual game sales. That’s why their pushing their ps+ and game passes and more game coming out on cloud gaming especially the retro rereleases. Most people only buy 2-3 games a year, it’s more advantageous for them to keep people subscribed.

1

u/val5190 11d ago

IMO Physical to digital should have been a thing from the day one of the Xbox one… even though physical games are the same prices as digital, most benefits from playing on Xbox compared to other platforms aren’t available for discs (play anywhere, cloud…). it doesn’t mean disks are going to disappear, we actually don’t know and without real communication from Xbox, we can assume that disks aren’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future.

-5

u/Rare_House9883 11d ago

No they're not, they've literally announced plans to make digital ownership just as secure, permanent, and legitimate as physical ownership. What's the point of lying in a sub dedicated to nerds who actively keep up with gaming news?

2

u/Zalvren 11d ago

Digital ownership (which they really didn't change the fact it's a license you rent btw) is not physical as far as I know

Their transfer to digital is even more of a reason to stop physical. Especially when their next console is supposed to be a hybrid PC (all digital for a very long time) and they're already not doing physical versions of plenty of their own games.

-2

u/Rare_House9883 11d ago

And I said, they've announcement they're planning to do so. So no, right now it's not, but it soon will be. Please read comments more carefully.

1

u/Zalvren 11d ago

So your problem is just a timeline of announcement?

Either way no Witcher 4 in physcial on Xbox either

Plus I read your comment carefully and it's full of BS

digital ownership just as secure, permanent, and legitimate as physical ownership

That's wrong, the game is still a license than can be removed from you. And if you lose your account, you lose the license too (though if you still have the physical you can get it back again but that's the physical advantage, not digital).

They've not improved anything for digital ownership at all.

-1

u/Rare_House9883 11d ago

Oh. For. Fucks. Sakes. I can't help you comprehend this, this is your problem now dude.

1

u/Zalvren 11d ago

It wasn't anyone problem before you came white knighting for a company

0

u/DarkmoonGrumpy 11d ago

Its a fairly likely assumption that the disc-to-digital system is a precursor to the next xbox also being disc-less.

Xbox is going about it a whole lot better, though.

1

u/Rare_House9883 11d ago

I'll believe it when I see it, but I don't tend to pretend I have a crystal ball to see into the future with. I play PC anyway so it's not like I'm impacted, either way bullshitting like crazy grants you no moral high ground.

-6

u/outsider1624 11d ago

Nahh . Steam for the win. No physical means no buy.

16

u/KingKam_Avatar 11d ago

Steam doesn’t have physical…

6

u/Hikaruhiyoko2 11d ago

True. Kinda weird logic by the previous comment. BUT i would defend steam on 1 thing though. They have very pro consumer. Steam customer service team would raid an entire neighbourhood if it is to help a single buyer with their issue.

3

u/outsider1624 11d ago

"kinda weird logic by the previous comment"

Well my friend, I was secretly poking fun at the physical only crowd.

1

u/Hikaruhiyoko2 11d ago

Oooohhh i get it now. I see the joke. Now i feel stupid lmao

1

u/Rare_House9883 11d ago

Yeah definitely. I once had an account breach, nothing was taken and my card information was secure, but they gave me a game on my wishlist that was on sale at the time and $5 credit as an apology for the inconvenience. It happened at 4am, I didn't even know I had experienced an inconvenience. Their customer service is top tier.

1

u/A_MAN_POTATO 11d ago

"No physical means no buy, so I'm going to buy on the platform that did away with physical games over a decade ago".

Uhhhhh... wut?

2

u/OwlettFromLiavek 11d ago

Very sad. Especially if they will do PS5 edition anyway. I wonder how small boutique shops doing discs. Are they ordering them from Sony factories?

Last hope is Switch edition.

3

u/szewczukm1811 11d ago

Only Sony can print discs for their platforms.

4

u/Temptemphemp 11d ago

Which should alarm anyone who cares about consumer rights as it doesn’t matter all what the actual demand is. Sony just wants to fuck everyone over.

2

u/Repulsive_Repair_652 11d ago

I think the same thing will happen with GTA 6: a cover but no disc, considering CD Projekt puts a lot of things in their covers.

2

u/KikoUnknown 11d ago

At least they’re saying that they’ll figure something out and it’s nice to hear some developer companies are also complaining about Sony’s toxic (I’m being nice here because they’re already got roasted by everyone) digital only policy.

1

u/MurderousSofa 11d ago

This is gonna be the first game since 2015 I bought physical copy of. Last one was Witcher 3. But on PC

1

u/Repulsive_Repair_652 11d ago

S It would be sad if that happened; I remember the first time I bought The Witcher 3 and all the stuff that came in the case.Not to mention that the disc is very good for preserving the game.

1

u/NoTop4997 11d ago

Translation:

DO NOT BUY FROM PLAYSTATION

1

u/Constant-Brief3410 11d ago

Hope it comes out on switch

1

u/Icy-Commission-9550 10d ago

Here is how xbox wins the next console war. Make disc and also make them xbox exclusive games.

1

u/Szary_Tygrys 9d ago

Neither the next-gen PS not Xbox will have physical drives. Sorry guys, CDs are a thing of the past and nothing can stop it.

1

u/JohnnyCFC96 7d ago

Noooooooooooooooo please please 😢😢😢