The trend of adapting fantasy/sci-fi books to other media left some of the original writers shrouded in mystery, especially when the success of the adaptation far outshines the original.
That's the case with The Witcher creator Andrzej Sapkowski. While he has been popular in his home country (Poland) for quite some time, elsewhere in the world very few knew about him and his books before CD Projekt RED created the exceedingly successful video game saga.
He was quoted in the past mentioning his dislike of games. However, in a new interview published today by Eurogamer, he wanted to set the record straight on this topic:
It is not that I don't like them, that I despise them. I just don't play them! But I have nothing against games, I have nothing against gamers. Nothing.
The Witcher creator was honest enough to admit that he didn't believe in CD Projekt RED's success at first, which is why he decided to sell all the rights for a fixed sum instead of taking a share of the game's profits.
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.
Still, he acknowledged that CD Projekt RED deserves all the praise and benefits from its game adaptation of The Witcher.
The game is made very well. and they merit all of the beneficiaries they get from it. They merit it. The game is very good, well done, well done.
The Polish author ended on a rousing note for the fans of his books, saying that he will "absolutely" write another story in the world of The Witcher.
Did you ready Sapkowski's books and if so, how would you compare them to the games made by CD Projekt RED?
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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