'The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt' Release Date In May: 'When You Pay $60, You're Entitled To Be Vocal,' Says CD Projekt RED CEO

Polish developer CD Projekt RED will launch upcoming action role-playing game “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt” for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on May 19. After two delays to ensure that dedicated fans will receive a flawless finished product, its release is highly anticipated. If players are going to pay $60, it better be worth it, the company said.

The game was pushed back from its original release date of fall 2014 due to the sheer size of the title. “The game is huge. If you play through the main story, it’s 50 hours plus,” Marcin Iwinski, CEO and co-founder of CD Projekt RED, told International Business Times on Thursday. “But I don’t think many people will just play through the main story because the most exciting aspect is the open world and the freedom.”

Development of “The Witcher 3” began nearly four years ago, long before the Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4 were available. The studio took a gamble and created the title for the eighth-generation devices without knowing the specifics.

And it worked out.

“It’s very exciting from a next-gen perspective. We’d taken the decision to make the game for next-gen before Microsoft or Sony officially announced the specs of the machines,” Iwinski said. “Luckily, they put in enough RAM and processing power, so the game looks amazing. A lot of people with the next-gen platform, they want to be excited. There’s not that many great-looking games now. For Christmas, there will be more, so I think it’s really perfect timing.”

Iwinski and his team are creating “The Witcher 3” for dedicated fans of the series. It’s not just about the action but the emotional connection he hopes players will forge with series protagonist Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter.

“Almost four years of our work is hitting the stores, and we’re really handing over our baby into the hands of gamers. And we hope they love and appreciate the story,” Iwinski added. “For me, personally, the key feature is the story. It’s how your consequences really matter in the game, and what kind of emotional package we’ve put into this game. Every gamer will have a different experience with the game. It’s really your choice, but every decision matters. It falls down to the final outcome. I think open world over 100 hours on three platforms at the same time is a big deal for us.”

And Iwinski is looking forward to the feedback the product will receive.

“When you pay $60, you’re entitled to be vocal. You just paid a full price for a game, so you should demand. And we’re there to deliver. This is always a tough moment. We have hundreds of thousands of fans supporting us, but then the moment of truth is really the release date, and how people like it,” he said.

That day is less than two months away, and CD Projekt RED will do all it can to ensure a successful release. “We are reviewing and scoring everything ... various gamer focus groups, mock-up previews. We’re trying to get as much feedback as possible. We don’t think we’re the kind of know-it-all developer.”