The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf Development is Frozen
Starting with hints and rumors yesterday around the Interwebs, everyone was wondering what was going on with The Witcher project coming to the console. Was it cancelled, delayed or some other thing that we knew nothing about? Well, it looks like it might be a mix of the first two, as developer Widescreen Games announced today that they have frozen development on The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf. It seems that development was halted due to financial issues with partner companies, which would lead one to look at the IP owner, CD Projekt.
Also, adding to the concerns of financial health with CD Projekt, we have confirmed that there was a round of layoffs at CD Projekt, that included a friend of the site, PR man Tom Ohle. So far the only project that has been hurt by financial issues is the console version of The Witcher. The sequel to the PC version is still on track, and Good Old Games is still going strong.
The rumor behind all this is that CD Projekt might have been trying to expand development of The Witcher brand, when the economic crunch hit, and with so many people cutting back on purchasing unnecessary items like multiple video game purchases, it was apparent that cost cutting was going to have to happen, even at CD Projekt. For more info on this development with The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf, click the jump.
Development of the new Game “The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf” is Frozen for Playstation3 and Xbox360!
LYON, France, April 29/PRNewswire/ — The French company Widescreen Games has announced that the adaptation of
the video game “The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf” for Playstation3 and
Xbox360 consoles is being frozen.
The game was under development in partnership with Atari (publisher) and
CDProjekt (creator of the original game on PC). “The development of the game “The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf” has been suspended in an attempt to resolve financial problems among the various
project partners.
We regret this measure, particularly on behalf of the fans who were
impatiently awaiting the release of the game. I hope that we can find an
amicable solution with our present and former partners involved in this
ambitious project,” commented Olivier Masclef, manager at Widescreen Games.
Although the finalization of the role-playing game “The Witcher :Rise of
the White Wolf” is indeed frozen, the video games studio will continue to
concentrate on its other productions.
Widescreen Games is also strengthening its R&D department as its
proprietary technology continues to contribute major added-value.
“The experience gained on the “Witcher” project shows the incredible
talent, competence and tenacity of our teams. In fact the entire code of the
original game was recreated by means of our proprietary engine (Da Vinci).
The quality does not disappoint in relation to the improvement of the graphic
assets, the creation of dynamic lights or also the mechanics of combat,”
added Olivier Masclef.
The company is also undertaking other projects and, although they are
still confidential, is developing several other games for Playstation3,
Xbox360 or Online (via the Identifiction brand).
About Widescreen Games
WideScreen Games was established in Lyon in December 1999.
WideScreen develops many games for PS2, PS3, XBOX360 games consoles and
for PC in cooperation with international publishers.
Source: Widescreen Games
Tags: cancelled, cd projekt, delay, economic crunch, frozen, layoffs, rise of the white wolf, the witcher, tom ohle, widescreen games
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