The Witcher’s Creator Calls Out Game Adaptations and Reveals ‘Excellent’ Deal With CD Projekt Red

Andrzej Sapkowski, the mind behind The Witcher universe, says his relationship with CD Projekt Red is the best it’s ever been. Still, he admits the studio almost never asks him for new ideas about Geralt’s world. At a recent book event, Sapkowski shared that, while early Witcher games involved more back-and-forth, he’s currently not involved at all with the much-anticipated Witcher 4. “The contracts between me and the game people are excellent right now,” Sapkowski said. “Let’s hope it stays that way.”

Longtime fans know this hasn’t always been the case. The author once made headlines for calling his original Witcher agreement “stupid” and admitting he never expected the games to become a global hit.

From a ‘Stupid’ Deal to One That’s ‘Excellent’

The history between Sapkowski and CD Projekt Red is full of sharp turns. At the event, meant to promote his new prequel novel, Crossroads of Ravens, Sapkowski opened up about how far things have come. The first deal, struck well before Geralt ever graced PC and console screens, gave Sapkowski a flat fee. He didn’t believe a fantasy RPG from a little-known Polish studio could pull in serious profits. CDPR actually offered him a percentage of future earnings. But, as Sapkowski told Eurogamer back in 2017, he turned them down: “I said, ‘No, there will be no profit at all – give me all my money right now! The whole amount.’ It was stupid. I was stupid enough to leave everything in their hands because I didn’t believe in their success.”

By the time The Witcher 3 took the world by storm in 2015, Sapkowski was nowhere near as dismissive, especially since he saw none of the booming royalties from the games. That old contract gave him a lump sum and nothing more. In 2019, after several years and much public negotiation, Sapkowski and CD Projekt Red hammered out a new arrangement. Since then, both sides seem content.

How Much Input Does Sapkowski Have? Spoiler: Not Much

According to Sapkowski, offers to contribute to Witcher 4 simply haven’t come. “It’s rare that [CDPR] gets in touch to ask for additional details these days,” he told fans. Despite that distance, he repeatedly made clear: “the contracts between me and the game people are excellent right now.” He appears satisfied so long as the terms hold steady and no new issues crop up.

But the author turned unexpectedly candid on another topic: creative changes. In a recent online Q&A, Sapkowski responded to a fan’s question about a recurring theme in the games, the so-called “witcher schools.” This iconic element, featured in all three games and embraced by the fandom, started with just a throwaway line in his book, The Last Wish. He now regrets it.

“The issue of ‘witcher schools’ requires – I apologize – a longer explanation,” Sapkowski wrote. “A single sentence about some ‘school of the Wolf’ mysteriously made its way into The Last Wish. I later deemed it unworthy of development and narratively incorrect, even detrimental to the plot. Therefore, later I never included or referenced any Witcher Gryffindors or Slytherins again. Never.”

Despite his intentions, that one line was all adaptors needed. “Adaptors, particularly video game people, have clung to the idea with remarkable tenacity and have wonderfully multiplied these ‘witcher schools’. Completely unnecessary,” he said, wryly referencing the way CD Projekt Red and others have taken that seed and run wild with it.

The upshot? The man who gave us Geralt is happy to let others build on his world for now, but don’t expect him to sign off on every creative direction CDPR takes. Sapkowski’s word is law in his books, what happens in the games is almost an entirely separate legend.