As jaded video-gamers, we are used to being yanked around when it comes to exclusive game content. How many copies of any given Ubisoft game do you need to buy to get all the costumes and DLC again? How long do I have to wait to play the new Tomb Raider on my PS4?
But for once it's a physical piece of content that has gamers up in arms. Last week
CD Projekt Red announced that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will feature a new in-game card-game Gwent. In the tradition of Knights of the Old Republic's Pazaak or Final Fantasy VIII's Triple Triad, Gwent seems like a fun way to kill time and add spice to the world and will feature 150 unique cards. So far so good.
Then CD Projekt Red announced that two decks of physical Gwent cards and a cloth map will be exclusive to the Xbox One Collector's Edition of the game, and the results were not pretty.
Some fans considered the special goodies an insult and a betrayal because the company had promised to not have any exclusive DLCs or retailer or platform specific versions of the game. Apparently they only meant digitally. One of the first replies to the announcement, for example, was the ominous "I won't forget this cdpr."
It got bad enough that Marcin Iwiński, CD Project Red co-founder, stepped into the announcement thread to try to quiet the mob.
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).
So what do you think? Does including exclusive physical swag constitute a broken promise? How sick are you of exclusives. Let us know in the comments.
The Witcher 3 will be out Feb. 24 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
