Bad news. CD Projekt has announced that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been delayed for a second time.
The new release date is May 19, 2015.
In an open letter to fans, CD Projekt addressed the delay.
Dear Gamers,
Ever since we started working on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, we knew it would be an ambitious game. We wanted, and still aim, to give you an incredible experience, an epic adventure in a vast, completely open fantasy universe.
The sheer size and complexity of The Witcher, key features of the title, have had a decisive impact on production. Now, nearing the end of our work, we see many details that need to be corrected. When we release the most important game in our studio’s history, we must be absolutely sure that we did everything we could to limit any bugs to a level that will allow you to enjoy the game thoroughly.
With this in mind, we took another look at current workloads and what they mean for the team. Even though everyone is working at full speed, we concluded that we need another 12 weeks, so we are shifting the release date of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to May 19th, 2015.
We owe you an apology. We set the release date too hastily. It’s a hard lesson, one to take to heart for the future. We know what we want to do to make Wild Hunt one of the best RPGs you will ever play. And we continue to work hard to achieve just that. So, we apologize and ask for your trust.
Thank you for the all support you show us on a daily basis. We truly do appreciate it. It has fueled us in our passion since the start and will continue to do so.
The Board of CD PROJEKT SA
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was initially supposed to be released in 2014, but was pushed back to February. Shame to see it delayed again, but if it’s better for the game — which it almost certainly is — then it’s probably for the best.
Comments
42 responses to “The Witcher 3 Has Been Delayed Again”
A much more courteous and apologetic delay notice than we usually get.
I hope that bit where they said “we’re looking at current workloads” means that they aren’t enforcing crazy crunch time schedules on everyone.
Well said. And as Mark also pointed out, its also better for the game.
I still reserve the right to go and eat comfort food and have a big sulk though. >:(
I’ve been waiting for this, but I guess I’ll have more time to finish off Dragon Age then.
My thoughts exactly. Feel like I’ll need a break from western fantasy rpg style after dragon age, as much as I’m loving it, this will do ok.
Fuck yes!
Take your time. Finish the game. And means I can get a new PC before it.
I agree, if a delay means a finished product I am more than happy to wait. But I swear to god if this is another PC F#ck up I am done / out.
Son of a….
I’m disappointed but given the scope they’ve announced I’m not entirely surprised. CDPR pride themselves on quality, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the problem they’re having is QA and balancing…
Ergh more time to play Bloodborne, re-play Dark Souls II :p
Good on them. I’m sure they would love to have it out when they said they would as much as everyone wants to get their hands on it, but it’s impossible to know when a project like this is going to be ready to ship, especially when it a game of this magnitude.
I…… I like it?
Nothing’s better than a massive RPG to tide you through the cold winter months.
I was annoyed when both Witcher and Dragon Age were scheduled for release at almost the same time at the end of 2014, then I was a little glad that Witcher got pushed back to the end of the Aussie summer….
May though? May is perfect!! I can’t wait to bunker down with a hot drink.
P.S Yes I’m aware that this is the exact opposite for a good chunk of the planet. Sucks to be them.
I’m sure our PC’s will keep us warm in the cold weather 🙂
It’s interesting last winter Watch Dogs and Wolfenstein had the whole market to themselves – this year you’ve got Batman, the Witcher and possibly now even Metal Gear Solid V if the rumours are true!
Woohoo this means I get more time to take my time on Dragon Age Inquisition! I now have until May
I’m glad they’re taking the time. Get it gooooooooooooooord. Get it nice and joocy.
Don’t mind at all. It would be almost time for next series of graphic cards release and upgrade to enjoy the game in full glory.
As much as I want it ASAP, I want it to be awesome, too. Hopefully our patience will be rewarded.
Bummed that I’ll have to wait a bit longer but find it pretty hard to hold anything against this company when they’re so nice and make such great games.
Yep, no problem with this. Also, two days after my birthday HOLLA.
Best to take the time to get it right. Hopefully the right move on their part that will benefit them in the long run.
EA: “Whaat? Why don’t they just release it now and patch it later?”
Fixed that for you 🙂
Ubisoft: “Whaat? Why don’t they just release it now and move onto The Witcher 4? You have 12 Months.”
Maxis: “What? Why don’t they just remove all the water?”
IGN: “Whaat? Why don’t they just remove all the water?”
There is a lesson here somewhere, ubisoft.
Two Witcher games every year!! Some may actaully work!
lol, you forgot micro transactions. Must have them in every game…
I’m OK with this. God knows I’m not going to be done with Dragon Age this year. I’ve got to spend a token amount of time playing the Destiny DLC I already paid for (stupid digital deluxe… won’t make THAT mistake again), I fully expect Bloodborne will tie up probably most of March/April, and you wouldn’t believe the pile of outrageously high-quality gaming sitting in my pile of shame.
In fact, I think I need to pre-order maybe 3-4 titles in full (Armello, Bloodborne, Dark Souls 2 PS4, Witcher 3, Final Fantasy 15), then not buy ANY games for the entirety of 2015 until I can finish the games of 2014. At least.
They just released a new trailer 2 days ago with the Feb release date. They had to of known about the delay before releasing the trailer.
Good. Their initial February release window was getting really crowded, and this game will be good enough that I’m fine waiting a few extra months if it means a higher-quality experience.
EDIT: The only downside is that this will probably have the knock-on effect of postponing work on Cyberpunk 2077.
A great benefit of being so good with your fanbase is that they are far more forgiving when it comes to delays or other issues that might arise.
PS. I don’t care how crowded their release date might have been. TW3 is absolutely top of my list of games to play and probably the only reason I’m going to bother to get a next-gen console.
I am alright with that. Completely. The one true gaming company that has yet to sell itself out. I trust even more so now days that Bioware has truly lost their way.
And lets face Ubisoft could learn a lesson or two from this. Release a game when it is ready not when marketing tells you it is the right time.
I still don’t understand why anybody actually announces their release date until they actually know for certain when it will be ready? What’s the point of giving a date 6-12 months ahead of time? Just wait until maybe 1 month before launch when you know it’s pretty much done and THEN give a specific date.
Because it doesn’t matter. The only people who gett annoyed at something like that are entitled morons. Stuff changes, stuff that looked good before might not now, might change it to improve something, delay game – sorry guys. Then we say thanks for telling us, hope it works out.
There are loads of reasons for giving a date or window and a lot has to do with building interest for fans and creating infrastructure for its expected delivery whether physical or digital. Problem is, you’re looking at it solely from your perspective when YOU are not the only person or party involved in the creation and release of the game. Some of those people need interest to be generated to ensure fans know when they can expect something and sometimes that changes, expecting people to tell the future, demanding that theories ad expectations automatically become fact is ridiculous.
I’m pretty down with games that function.
CD Projekt never disappoints. Can not wait to play it!
Patience is a virtue, as they say….
Good, this gives me time to decide if the Collector’s edition is worth $200 to me.
Nice of them to issue an apology. Nice to see a studio bug fixing before the game is released a suppose to ubisoft and EA games.
I wonder what this will mean for their Cyberpunk game? Can’t imagine seeing that until 2017 now.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
COme one!!!!!!, i was planning to play that game 22/7 when it was released, because i din’t had any work scheduled for this whole month!!!!
May is when our shop is the busiest for fucks sake, it will be a miracle if i have enough time to just look at the start menu good darn it…
Oh well…