You may not know the name Andrzej Sapkowski, but you’re probably acquainted with his most famous creation. Sapkowski is the writer responsible for creating Geralt of Rivia, who gamers knows as the star of The Witcher franchise developed by CD Project Red. Those releases have been great games but Sapkowski himself wouldn’t know. He doesn’t play.
Eurogamer — via their Polish site — has Sapkowski expounding on how he feels about CD Project Red’s work and his thoughts on adaptations:
“I’ve never played any computer games, be it fantasy or others. Sometimes I read through dedicated gaming magazines or watch television programmes. Graphics and technology, sometimes, I admire. I cannot say anything about the plots, though. Apart from the fact that some types of games seem to lack any story whatsoever. Those seem to be all about the hack and slash.”
Sapkowski also makes it clear that he views anything existing outside of a fictional universe’s original medium as an entirely different beast, incluing the two Witcher games:
“The game – with all due respect to it, but let’s finally say it openly – is not an ‘alternative version’, nor a sequel. The game is a free adaptation containing elements of my work; an adaptation created by different authors”
“Adaptations – although they can in a way relate to the story told in the books – can never aspire to the role of a follow-up. They can never add prologues nor prequels, let alone epilogues and sequels.
And while Sapkowski’s statements may be bold, they are, for the most part defensible. However, he also says, “A story can only be contained in a book.” I think many people who love video games would disagree with him.
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