14 DAY TRIAL // CD Projekt RED has made public its copy-protection policy, in an effort to quell the rumors regarding the possible inclusion of a Ubisoft style digital rights management system in The Witcher 2. Not only that, but Adam Kiciński, the chief executive officer of the studio, made an official statement promising that nothing had been decided yet, but that he and his team would do everything to prevent such an unfortunate event.
“Given the concerns expressed by players and growing media speculation, we have decided to make public our internal DRM policy. Although we are the game’s developer, we obviously won’t be making a unilateral decision on the DRM protection that is applied to The Witcher 2. Nevertheless, our internal rules and guidelines should reassure players. As the game’s developer, we will strive to do everything in accordance with our stated policy.” was what Kiciński had to say on the matter.
The policy states that the company emphasizes the encouragement of the acquisition of legal copies over efforts to deter piracy. This means that any copy protection that requires a constant Internet connection despite the fact that the gameplay does not should be avoided. Moreover, CD Projekt RED discourages the limitation of game installations and Internet-based registrations of the title where they are not necessary.
CD Projekt RED has a good reputation among PC gamers as a company that tries to avoid buggy or intrusive DRM software and that provides assistance for its games. The first Witcher game was a success, despite the buggy launch, mainly because CD Projekt RED continued to support it after its release. The Enhanced Edition patch, available for free even for those who bought the old copy of the title, brought better graphics and a big rise in the quality of the English text and voice acting. The developer is working now on the follow-up to that game, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, which is set to be released sometime at the beginning of 2011.