CD Projekt considering expansions for Witcher 2 instead of traditional DLC
The Witcher 2's senior producer, Tomasz Gop, has said that the developer plans on releasing future content for Assassins of Kings, but for the moment, the firm is laser focused on getting the game out the door first.
Speaking with Eurogamer.cz in an interview, Gop said the firm has considered all the different possibilities for extra Witcher 2 content, but it seems to be leaning more towards full on expansion packs than traditional DLC.
"Naturally, we would love to do a full-length expansion pack to give our players several more hours of gameplay," said Gop. " But our main focus at this time is to make sure The Witcher 2 is as polished as possible when it’s released on May 17. So right now, it would be premature to comment more specifically on things that are still in the planning phases and subject to change."
Gop also touched upon the fact that players can import their previous saved game from the original Witcher into the sequel, but the firm did not make it requirement so that newcomers would not feel like they missed out on anything.
"Obviously, I can’t give you any specific examples because we don‘t want to spoil the game for anyone, but you can take my word for it that things are different depending on whether you import a saved game or decide to start fresh," said Gop. "The Witcher 2 is designed to give every player a complete RPG experience, so it isn’t necessary to have played the first game.
"At the same time, we wanted to offer our fans who finished it some extras, so importing their saves can allow them to see differences in the way the plot develops and in the endings."
The discussion of different plots and the like also brought about the question of mod support, something the first Witcher had and CD Projekt plans to continue supporting with the Witcher 2.
Gop said the firm is well-aware of the importance of mods with the RPG genre, and it wants to make sure that the editor can provide the user with the best experience possible. Gop wouldn't comment on when the tools would be released as the team is "busy finalizing the full game," so he couldn't promise anything specific.
Finally, as far as the length of time it will take players to finish the game, Gop said the team doesn't want players to try and finish it in a "certain number of hours,"; plus, it's a rather large game to begin with.
"The Witcher 2 is a big game no matter how you play through it," he said. "Some of our locations are so detailed that we’ve seen quite a few instances where beta testers got lost in them. On average the main storyline walkthrough takes around 40 hours.
"The difficulty level you choose can [also] make quite a differences. On the Insane setting, for example, if you die once, it’s game over – you have to start over from the beginning."
The Witcher 2 is out on May 17. Hooray.