The Witcher Author Makes Zero Cash off the Video Game Series
Around here we’re big fans of The Witcher. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt remains one of our most highly praised games of all time. Not only that we’ve featured a ton of stunning (and a little sexy) cosplays that cover everything from Triss to Morenn to the terrifying Noonwraith and everything in between.
Andrzej Sapkowski is the creator of The Witcher franchise. Not in the video game sense but in the series sense. The books, the lore and your favorite monster Hunter, Geralt of Rivia. One would think that being the father of such a successful series would see Sapkowski swimming in money like a modern day Scrooge McDuck but you’d be wrong. The fact is, The Witcher’s continued success doesn’t net the creator a penny.
In a recent interview with Eurogamer, Sapkowski revealed he never really had much faith in the video games that were based on his world. He’s not a gamer himself so when presented with the option from CD Projekt Red to take royalties from sales versus a one time fee, he chose the pay me now option. Something he very much regrets, we’re sure.
“I was stupid enough to sell them rights to the whole bunch. They offered me a percentage of their profits. I said, ‘No, there will be no profit at all – give me all my money right now! The whole amount.’ It was stupid. I was stupid enough to leave everything in their hands because I didn’t believe in their success. But who could foresee their success? I couldn’t.”
In his native Poland, Andrzej Sapkowski is revered in much the same manner J.R.R. Tolkien is revered here. Crossing the borders outside of Poland and his reverence all but disappears. Often, when people see a book with The Witcher label on it, they assume it’s nothing more than fiction inspired by the game they already know. Sapkowksi himself has even been mistaken for a Witcher fan fiction writer opposed to the creator of the actual franchise. “It happened,” he said. “It happened. I can remember my reaction: I know many bad words and I used all of them, in many languages.”
Sadly, the situation is legally binding and as nice as the guys from CDPR are they’d be foolish to revisit the contract now. Is it the right thing to do to pay Sapkowski a little bit more now that the series is known as one of the best in gaming? What are your thoughts, readers? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!