We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.
With all the hoo-ha about The Witcher 3 and the replies GOG have given (first being it was never planned, second being they don't know), I finally have an answer from the actual developer of The Witcher 3.

Yeah, I know, I'm writing about this again after saying I probably wouldn't, "please make it stop" and all that.

This is the first time CDPR have ever actually communicated with me directly.

QuoteHey Liam,

Thanks for getting in touch.

I'm afraid we have nothing to communicate about this at this point in time.

Best,
Robert

I replied right after this, and immediately got an out of the office auto-reply. Hmmm.

There you go, an official comment from the developer of The Witcher 3. It clears up nothing, it's a flat-out denial to answer my basic and easy to understand questions.

It does raise the question though: why reply at all when you're essentially saying nothing?

I don't think we will ever truly know what happened, I expect no one to talk about it as I imagine both Valve and CDPR want this snafu buried.

I will just leave this here again for posterity, to remind myself and you to never pre-order based on developer promises, not even a big banner on Steam itself:
tagline-image Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
0 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
107 comments
Page: «2/11»
  Go to:

ElectricPrism Sep 7, 2016
I actually think it was nice of them to dignify Liam with even a basic communication after having no previous communication.

Liams email did a couple things

Quote1 ) It reintroduced SteamOS/Linux into their thoughts

2 ) It raised SteamOS & Linux' importance as user(s) reminded them "Hey? We're Important! Remember Us."

3 ) SteamOS & Linux has the high-ground because they know their past communications have their reputation committed to SteamOS even if they're having difficulty delivering.

4 ) They fear making SteamOS/Linux & gamers mad. (Just look at the clusterfsck storm going on in ARK, and remember the siht storm Planetary Annihilation caused).

5 ) They were forced to communicate that their marketing has nothing to announce at this time and they are concerned about miscommunicating information.

Even though it's not the answer we want "at this time" the important thing is it got the gears and cogs moving in their minds and I'm sure internally they want to fulfill good on their original vision and goals to launch on SteamOS.

Maybe they know how rowdy the Linux community can get and they don't want the hate.

Successive reminders with time may bear success - imagine the Linux Community messaging them on twitter ever 2 weeks or 1 month to remind them of their commitment.

At the end of the day:
The Squeeky Wheel Gets the Oil. So go out there and make a ruckus you Linux Folk.


Last edited by ElectricPrism on 7 September 2016 at 9:10 pm UTC
Shmerl Sep 7, 2016
QuoteIt does beg the question though: why reply at all when you're essentially saying nothing?

Because not replying is rude. And if they can't give you an answer (for whatever reason), it's better to confirm that they have nothing to say "at this point" instead of ignoring.

More interesting can be the reasons why they can't answer. Some suggested it could be related to stock market regulation in Poland. CDPR is a public company, and falls under scrutiny from the stock regulators. At one point they came under fire for publishing certain information prematurely, and were blamed for manipulating their stock price:

https://www.reddit.com/r/witcher/comments/39lxus/cd_projekt_may_need_to_pay_a_fine_after/

Who knows how their regulators work, but they can easily claim that publishing any plans in advance is an attempt to manipulate stocks price. After such threats it's easily can cause the company to forbid any kind of communication about their work in progress and plans.

There is also another point. CDPR are required to give answers to their shareholders. So may be some Linux users can buy some of their stocks and then ask questions on shareholder meetings or shareholders forum:
https://www.cdprojekt.com/pl/forums/forum/forum-glowne/

Strangely no one asked such questions on those meetings before.


Last edited by Shmerl on 7 September 2016 at 9:17 pm UTC
Mountain Man Sep 7, 2016
Well, it's not a no, so I guess that's positive.

I wonder if there is some sort of legal action between Valve and the developer which prevents them from being able to comment?
apocalyptech Sep 7, 2016
I wonder if there's something legally going on between CDPR and Valve. Like if CPDR had an official aggreement with Valve to produce a Witcher 3 port, but then they ended up dropping it, and Valve and them are now doing some legal wrangling around that question. It's not uncommon to be literally legally unable to say anything about ongoing proceedings like that, and I wonder what the chances are that it's something like that.

Just some idle speculation!

Edit: Ha, beaten by less than a minute!


Last edited by apocalyptech on 7 September 2016 at 9:13 pm UTC
Liam Dawe Sep 7, 2016
Quoting: Shmerl
QuoteIt does beg the question though: why reply at all when you're essentially saying nothing?

Because not replying is rude. And if they can't give you an answer (for whatever reason), it's better to confirm that they have nothing to say "at this point" instead of ignoring.
It's only rude if you know for absolute sure you are being ignored intentionally. There's many reasons why emails can go unanswered.

In addition, you may think it is rude, but it's business. They don't have to give a reply to me or anyone technically when personally emailed, it's their choice.
Shmerl Sep 7, 2016
Quoting: liamdaweIn addition, you may think it is rude, but it's business. They don't have to give a reply to me or anyone technically when personally emailed, it's their choice.

It's common to ignore, yes, but it doesn't make it less rude. Of course it can happen some are bombarded with huge amount of e-mails and simply can't answer them all. But more than often, the approach of legacy media is to ignore individuals by design. CDPR claim they on purpose don't want to be like that (that's why they reply I assume). But their avoidance of communicating anything essential negates that anyway.
tamccullough Sep 7, 2016
I think more blame needs to be leveled/aimed/heaped on Valve. Just what exactly have their intentions been with the whole Steam OS thing? If they truly wanted it to overthrow windows and consoles in the future, why put so little effort into marketing it and promoting it? It's not truly worth the effort for developers. Which honestly pisses me off.
Keyrock Sep 7, 2016
Can we just let this thing go and forget about TW3 unless something of consequence happens?
edo Sep 7, 2016
now try asking valve, or maybe directly to the gabe newell email
elbuglione Sep 7, 2016
CDPR and GOG is dead to me.
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.