The Author Of The Witcher Novels Will Now Receive Money From The Games

TheGamer

By Scott Baird

Published Feb 5, 2019

CD Projekt Red has reached a settlement to pay the author of The Witcher novels.

The author of The Witcher novels will now be receiving a cut of the video games following a demand for sixteen million dollars worth of the profits brought in by The Witcher games, though he likely didn't receive anywhere near that much money.

We reported back in October that Andrzej Sapkowski, the author of The Witcher novels, had demanded sixteen million dollars from CD Projekt Red as a result of his work increasing their profits. CD Projekt Red had originally approached Sapkowski with a profit-sharing deal for the adaptation rights of his Witcher novels, but he wanted a larger lump sum in exchange for giving away the game rights entirely, which meant that he made no money at all from The Witcher 2 or The Witcher 3.

CD Projekt Red could have stuck to their guns and fought to uphold the original bargain they struck with Andrez Sapkowski, but they have decided to reach a settlement for an amount (via Wccftech) that was far less than what Sapkowski was originally asking for.

The settlement is meant to be a kind of recognition for Sapkowski's work, but it's more likely an attempt at keeping him sweet in preparation for future dealings, especially now that The Witcher TV show with Netflix is undergoing production.

CD Projekt Red has hinted that another game in The Witcher series is on the cards following the release of Cyberpunk 2077, with the possibility that the story will focus on characters other than Geralt. It's likely that CD Projekt Red doesn't want to risk any kind of messy lawsuit with Andrzej Sapkowski at a time in the future where it might affect a Witcher property that they already have in development, and they especially don't want to be put in a situation where they risk losing the adaptation rights to The Witcher franchise.

It's hard not to feel sorry for Andrzej Sapkowski for making such a poor business decision when he signed over the rights to The Witcher video games, even though there are bound to be people who feel that he acted inappropriately by demanding money from CD Projekt Red. The important thing is that he has been placated, and there shouldn't be any more issues from him in the future that might risk the chances of us seeing The Witcher 4.