The Witcher 3 on Xbox One is a little sweeter

Last week gamers everywhere were up in arms over Rise of the Tomb Raider being announced as a timed exclusive for the Xbox One. With all the dust kicked up over that, a lot of people missed something else that’s coming exclusively to Mirosoft’s next-gen console.

The Witcher 3 is one of next year’s biggest titles, and it’s coming with a pretty kickass Collector’s Edition. There’s a massive Geralt figurine, a Wolf Medallion, the game’s soundtrack and some little bits and pieces here and there. Up until last week, the editions were the same across all platforms. Now though, the Xbox One is getting a little bit more loving.

CD Projekt RED has added two additional physical goodies to the Collector’s Edition of The Witcher 3 on Xbox One. The Collector’s Edition includes all previously announced items, but now includes Gwent, a card game that is popular in the Witcher universe. Two decks for the card game will accompany an exclusive cloth map in the Xbox One package, and fans aren’t happy.

As expected, the internet lashed out at CD Projekt RED over the weekend, accusing them of betraying their industry leading values. The studio understands the criticism, but took the time to explain their actions in a lengthy open letter.

Looking at the heated comments, I believe that our announcement of the physical addition of two decks of Gwent cards and a cloth map, requires a further word from us.

Here at CD Projekt Red, we always put gamers first. Our PC versions are released DRM-free, we bend over backwards to give you the most beefed up editions of our games (be it standard or Collector’s), and we deliver the same game, regardless of platform or version you buy. Moreover, we promised not have any exclusive DLCs, neither per platform nor per retailer, and we do stand by our promise–nothing has changed, nor will change in this regard.

Don’t get me wrong, I do understand that these extra items might be desirable for Witcher fans playing the game on other platforms. However, as we are not offering any platform or retail exclusive DLCs or any other form of gameplay differentiation, we do have to find other ways to support our partners. We are also providing special pre-order items for certain retailers around the world, including Witcher comic books, posters, steel books or medallions. Funnily enough, we did not notice any heated comments on the pre-order specials.

What is the reason? Why are we doing this? We need the support of partners to make our game visible worldwide. This should hopefully translate to better sales, which will in consequence allow us to do what we have been doing for the last 10 years, i.e. reinvest this money to make more great RPGs, while still sticking to our values.

If you still consider that adding two decks of Gwent cards and a map of the in-game world to the Xbox One CE equals us betraying our values and not fulfilling our promises, well, it does make us sad, but the final call is always yours to make.

Still, I do hope that what we offer is unique and we can ask you to give us the benefit of the doubt. We have more great things to announce for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in the coming months and I promise you won’t be disappointed (yes, yes, there are no more exclusives coming).

Seems fair to me. Microsoft is giving CD Projekt RED a little more financial help to get their game into more gamer’s hands. In exchange, Microsoft’s Collector’s Edition is a little sweeter. Everyone still gets to play the same game at the end of the day, so I wouldn’t say CD Projekt RED is compromising on their values just by including some stuff in a edition that a large percentage of people won’t get anyway.

At least, that’s how I see it. There are pre-order incentives out there that are more invasive than this.

Last Updated: August 18, 2014