Ex-Witcher 3 lead says CDPR initially worried the RPG's massive story didn't fit "the play style of an open world game"

Former Witcher 3 lead quest designer Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz says CDPR initially worried that people wouldn't vibe with the beloved RPG's massive story in an open-world setting.

Recently, I had the chance to sit down with Tomaszkiewicz for a wide-ranging conversation about his new project, the open-world dark fantasy RPG Blood of Dawnwalker, in development at Rebel Wolves. At one point, I asked him if he thought Dawnwalker's unique "time as a resource" mechanic might turn off some players, and he explained that he's well familiar with taking risks in games, having helped make The Witcher 3, the RPG series' first true open-world entry.

"I think not many games were trying to do what we did back then, which is, we tried to combine these really expansive storytelling techniques that were usually built in more linear RPGs, like more corridor structured RPGs, like The Witcher 2, for example, and we tried to carry that over to an open-world.

"And there was a risk to this as well, like there was a risk to having such a long story as we did with The Witcher 3. We didn't know if people actually want this, if that actually fits the play style of an open-world game. But we took these risks. We did what we could to mitigate them. I think, I mean, in the end, it worked out pretty well."

Considering The Witcher 3 is widely considered to be one of the best RPGs ever made, I'd say it worked out, yeah.

The Blood of Dawnwalker is already showing its Witcher 3 roots, but it also reminds me of my favorite underrated vampire RPG.