In case there was any doubt that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was quite the success story, CD Projekt today announced that the RPG has sold more than six million copies in its first six weeks of release, resulting in record-setting revenues and profits. Even better for the company, a full one million copies were activated on GOG, its home-grown digital distribution platform, which also reported record sales.
"Owing to the release of The Witcher 3, revenues in the videogame development segment were approximately 7.5 times greater than the corresponding revenues in The Witcher 2 release period," CD Projekt Board Vice President Piotr Nielubowicz said in a financial results summary. "This year s net profitability of the videogame development segment is 54 percent, which marks the recent release as not only the largest but also the most profitable enterprise in CD Projekt s entire history."
CD Projekt also issued a less business-like statement discussing what the success of The Witcher 3 means to the people who made it: "Everyone here in CD Projekt Red is really attached to their work and how you, the gamers, perceive it. Red is full of artists, wild dreamers and people crazy about what they do (and sometimes just plain crazy)," Studio Head Adam Badowski said. "We lose sleep over that particular color the sun has when it sets over Velen, and argue over arranging the furniture in a house the majority of gamers will probably never see. We re not the kind of people who are easily satisfied and we always strive for more. I d like you to know that."
"Yes, six million copies is a great achievement for a company making RPGs, but this business is not only about that," he continued. "If our games are a gallery of sound, picture and text - you are the visitors of this gallery. To an artist, there s no sweeter sight than people enjoying their work. That s why, in the name of all the devs in the studio, I d like to say thanks to each and every one of you."
The last of 16 pieces of free Witcher 3 DLC, a New Game+ mode, was released last week, but two full-on expansions remain: Hearts of Stone in October, and then Blood and Wine in early 2016.