CD PROJEKT RED replied to me about The Witcher 3 and Linux, flat-out denying to answer any questions
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.
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:
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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:
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The comments on this article are closed.
It's easy.
They're working on it but are having difficulties. This would be their first Linux game. Witcher 2 was outsourced to VP.
The complete silence in a PR tactic. They essentially don't want to tell us anything because of the usual backlash companies get when postponing Linux releases. They want to avoid the hate that Larian got when they postponed Divinity: Origininal Sin for Linux.
It's all due to the toxic members of the community that are somehow very vocal on Linux and simply cannot tolerate release dates being pushed back.
This is why we can't have nice things and a direct conversation with developers.
They're working on it but are having difficulties. This would be their first Linux game. Witcher 2 was outsourced to VP.
The complete silence in a PR tactic. They essentially don't want to tell us anything because of the usual backlash companies get when postponing Linux releases. They want to avoid the hate that Larian got when they postponed Divinity: Origininal Sin for Linux.
It's all due to the toxic members of the community that are somehow very vocal on Linux and simply cannot tolerate release dates being pushed back.
This is why we can't have nice things and a direct conversation with developers.
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lucifertdark Sep 8, 2016
That was a polite email, polite for a "shut up & leave me alone" email anyway.
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That's completely ridiculous! I pre-ordered TW3 based on this promise (yes i know, shame on me). There are companies who earn our trust by fulfilling their promises. A decent amount of 2K recent games have very good linux ports, even sometimes day one! But on the other side CDPR and GOG keep teasing us with nothing but wind ... That's not what i call customers respect. Its more like customer betrayal.
Furthermore, today there are lots of options to port a game on Linux (engines do massively support Linux, porting companies are doing an impressive work, etc). Furthermore Virtual Programming, who did port TW2, greatly improved their technology. So they could do it, they could communicate on this, they could be a company deserving our trust! But they don't. At that point it seems like disappointing customers is PR policy for them.
Based on they engagement on DRM-Free and they (false) promise to support Linux as first class citizen i was a CDPR/GOG advocate but now, i'm done being disappointed. My money is better given to companies being serious in supporting Linux and providing decent DRM-Free versions (yes Leagues of Geeks, you are customer cheaters too!).
When it comes to port to MacOS, iOS, Android, XBOX or Playstation, then companies always find the time and resources to do it! Maybe porting to XBOX can be easier because of it's similar to Windows, but other platforms are not. It is not a matter of complexity to port it but investment strategy. It seems like porting on Linux is for those companies something like: "Ok, we'll do it ... when we have nothing else to do ... if we get bored on a rainy day with all our friends far away ...". It means we are at the bottom of the priority list but they don't want to close the door to get one day our dollars. It's lame. If you don't plan to actively porting something on Linux, just don't tease it! When it's teased, it's to late to shut our mouth. Then you need to communicate and be honest. That's what is called an healthy business relation.
Last edited by TheBard on 8 September 2016 at 9:01 am UTC
Furthermore, today there are lots of options to port a game on Linux (engines do massively support Linux, porting companies are doing an impressive work, etc). Furthermore Virtual Programming, who did port TW2, greatly improved their technology. So they could do it, they could communicate on this, they could be a company deserving our trust! But they don't. At that point it seems like disappointing customers is PR policy for them.
Based on they engagement on DRM-Free and they (false) promise to support Linux as first class citizen i was a CDPR/GOG advocate but now, i'm done being disappointed. My money is better given to companies being serious in supporting Linux and providing decent DRM-Free versions (yes Leagues of Geeks, you are customer cheaters too!).
Quoting: devlandIt's easy.
They essentially don't want to tell us anything because of the usual backlash companies get when postponing Linux releases. They want to avoid the hate that Larian got when they postponed Divinity: Origininal Sin for Linux.
It's all due to the toxic members of the community that are somehow very vocal on Linux and simply cannot tolerate release dates being pushed back.
When it comes to port to MacOS, iOS, Android, XBOX or Playstation, then companies always find the time and resources to do it! Maybe porting to XBOX can be easier because of it's similar to Windows, but other platforms are not. It is not a matter of complexity to port it but investment strategy. It seems like porting on Linux is for those companies something like: "Ok, we'll do it ... when we have nothing else to do ... if we get bored on a rainy day with all our friends far away ...". It means we are at the bottom of the priority list but they don't want to close the door to get one day our dollars. It's lame. If you don't plan to actively porting something on Linux, just don't tease it! When it's teased, it's to late to shut our mouth. Then you need to communicate and be honest. That's what is called an healthy business relation.
Last edited by TheBard on 8 September 2016 at 9:01 am UTC
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Maybe VP wrote a cheque they couldn't cash.
W3 is a graphically intensive game, and maybe VP failed to get their wrapper in a state to handle it.
W3 is a graphically intensive game, and maybe VP failed to get their wrapper in a state to handle it.
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Well, at least is not a "never". 
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Stupendous Man Sep 8, 2016
And another company goes to my "NEVER-buy-from"-blacklist. CDPR will be sitting in nice company with Sony and other "great" companies.
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This answer makes me a bit angry. What ever the reason this happened (I bought it when the SteamOS banner was up, never got it refunded), I think they or Valve owe me an explaination there. Since they happily took my money on wrong advertisement (by the way, european company, I could sue them over this by european law, and with this answer I am thinking on actually going for it).
As much as I like what they are doing and their out of question well done game, this communication department they should just get rid of.
Last edited by STiAT on 8 September 2016 at 9:48 am UTC
As much as I like what they are doing and their out of question well done game, this communication department they should just get rid of.
Last edited by STiAT on 8 September 2016 at 9:48 am UTC
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Quoting: TheBardIt's lame. If you don't plan to actively porting something on Linux, just don't tease it! When it's teased, it's to late to shut our mouth. Then you need to communicate and be honest. That's what is called an healthy business relation.
That kind of attitude is what is preventing us from having an honest communication relationship with devs.
Larian were honest about their porting troubles. They had some unforseen middleware issues that took some time to figure out. In the end they delivered a very well optimized rpg for Linux.
Yet people continued to bitch about the delays. That attitude is what is keeping cdpr from disclosing any information.
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[email protected] Sep 8, 2016
Quoting: devlandQuoting: TheBardIt's lame. If you don't plan to actively porting something on Linux, just don't tease it! When it's teased, it's to late to shut our mouth. Then you need to communicate and be honest. That's what is called an healthy business relation.
That kind of attitude is what is preventing us from having an honest communication relationship with devs.
Larian were honest about their porting troubles. They had some unforseen middleware issues that took some time to figure out. In the end they delivered a very well optimized rpg for Linux.
Yet people continued to bitch about the delays. That attitude is what is keeping cdpr from disclosing any information.
I think that the same problem exists for delays on any platform. Look at all the bitching going on about FFXV being delayed on the PS4.
It's a common problem. The best way is to be honest about the polishing. People will still bitch but at least it won't be on a major level.
In my opinion, the best way to deal with this is to be honest and say it's in the works but will take some time (like next year or something). At least the community can take it in their stride and deal with it knowing that those SteamOS ads which they bought the game for, were not a lie outright.
Last edited by [email protected] on 8 September 2016 at 11:07 am UTC
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Quoting: cxphergmailcomIn my opinion, the best way to deal with this is to be honest and say it's in the works but will take some time (like next year or something). At least the community can take it in their stride and deal with it knowing that those SteamOS ads which they bought the game for, were not a lie outright.
But snippets coming from CDPR don't confirm that "it's in the works but will take some time". It's rather: higher-ups have not stamped the final decision to drop it yet, so we cannot confirm or deny. Or perhaps: we're not doing it ourselves, but we're open for discussion if an independent developer would like to.
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