The game series “The Witcher” is based on the novels of the Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The author largely kept himself out of the development of the games, but he saw a need for action regarding one detail and wrote a letter.
Where does the information come from? Adam Zechenter and Maciej Pawlikowski from Gry Online spoke with Artur Ganszyniec, who was responsible for the story of the first two Witcher titles. Ganszyniec took the opportunity to talk about what was happening behind the scenes.
Author was unhappy with the naming
What kind of letter was it? As Ganszyniec reports, the Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski stayed out of the development of the games, which he didn’t find particularly interesting anyway. Furthermore, the writer is said to have had a rather pragmatic view: He knew he could write books, but he didn’t make movies or games, so how could he advise?
Nonetheless, the developers included him in certain aspects, such as the map and the naming of the characters. In one case, Sapkowski was apparently completely unhappy with the game and made this unambiguously clear to the team:
We sent him a list of such names and received a rather biting response, which clearly indicated that he did not like the names. As is typical for Sapkowski, it was a language full of complicated expressions, sharp and sarcastic. Of course, we swallowed this ‘pill’ and changed the names of many characters.
Artur Ganszyniec via Gry Online
In particular, the author is said to have been troubled by some Slavic names in the game, as initially there had been names like Janko or Wojko, which were then changed.
How did the letter find its way into the game? According to Ganszyniec, the letter itself was so “remarkable” that they simply integrated it into the game.
Inaccurate, inappropriate, and painfully primitive
Where is the letter in the game? Ganszyniec reveals that there is a playable item to be found in the third act of The Witcher 1, in which some quotes from Sapkowski’s letter are processed.
This item is the professor’s report in the corpse of the Kikimore queen. You can read the content here:
… unfortunately, I must question the advantages of our alliance with Princess Adda. The bitch is incredibly spoiled and hard to convince. She was not capable of instigating an emergency, and her clumsy forgeries led the Witcher to her trail. For now, we keep our word and play Adda’s game. However, since Foltest is likely to return soon, we should put our second plan into action. I think I will have to deal with the problem of Geralt of Rivia myself – quickly and drastically. However, I must insist that you do not refer to him as “son of a whore” – such names are completely inaccurate, inappropriate, and painfully primitive.
The transmitted substances allow us, as expected, to control the Kikimores and their mother. At least the laboratory is functioning perfectly, allowing us to apply the secrets of Kaer Morhen.
Professor
The team did not take the author’s harsh words in the letter too badly: he simply said what was necessary, and that was helpful. Incorporating parts of the letter into the game was their opportunity to lessen the situation somewhat, and at the same time, the text was immortalized.
However, that was also the only influence from Andrzej Sapkowski on the production.
Some fans of another popular franchise would probably prefer if the author of the underlying books would stay out of the production of works based on it, just like the author of “The Witcher”. Because every new entry into the Harry Potter universe triggers a discussion about how far one can separate authors from their works.
