You’ve no doubt have heard about The Witcher series. It’s a massive IP and chances are you’ve played a bit of it especially the third installment which has gone on to win countless awards. This IP wasn’t fully the creation from CD Projekt Red. While the development studio has crafted up the video games, its original source material came from Andrzej Sapkowski, who created a series of novels which were used as the basis of the video game. Now the author is at the development team and demanding a large sum of money otherwise he will see the studio in court. The problem here is likely the contract he signed and money accepted for The Witcher series, to begin with.
It’s a hard pill to swallow I’m sure when you’re offered royalties to a major successful release. These royalties are likely worth way more than the paycheck you would have originally received. As a result, it can potentially really pay off if you choose to believe in the product. Unfortunately, it appears that wasn’t the case for Andrzej who opted to take a one-time payment for the use of The Witcher. The number which is circulating around online that CD Projekt Red paid the author was about $10,000 otherwise they would have given him royalties. Again, this is a risk type of choice as if the game doesn’t succeed then you may come out on top with the $10,000. Of course, that wasn’t the case and The Witcher series went on to be a major hit.
Now the author is firing back at the studio demanding that they pay him a total of $16,000,000 otherwise it will end up being a lawsuit. CD Projekt Red in return blasted the news on their investor’s post and it looks like they are going back to the original contract agreement meaning that they owe the author nothing. At any rate, it will be interesting to see if the author sends out a lawsuit as it looks to be a pretty clear cut case in favor of CD Projekt Red. For now, the development team is likely more interested in their latest video game in the works known as Cyberpunk 2077, a brand new IP set in the future.
[Source: CD Projekt Red]
