The Witcher creator Andrzej Sapkowski never really hid his utter disdain for gaming in general. This was perhaps only exacerbated by the famous dispute with Polish developer CD Projekt RED: originally, the author sold the videogaming rights for a relative pittance, thinking they would never really be that successful.
Following The Witcher III: Wild Hunt’s immense success, however, Sapkowski demanded $16 million in royalty payments despite the fact that the deal they had previously struck did not mention any royalty fees at all. Eventually, CD Projekt RED reached a new agreement with the creator of The Witcher that purportedly satisfied both parties.
Now, though, in a fresh Reddit AMA on the Fantasy subreddit, Sapkowski returned to criticize CD Projekt’s games, specifically on their ‘completely unnecessary’ expansion of the concept of Witcher schools. Here’s the relevant quote:
The issue of “witcher schools” requires—I apologise—a longer explanation. 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. However, that one sentence was enough. Adaptors, particularly video game people, have clung to the idea with remarkable tenacity and have wonderfully multiplied these “witcher schools.” Completely unnecessary.
I’m still uncertain about what to do with this situation. Perhaps, taking the path of least resistance, I’ll erase the sentence about the “school” from future editions of The Last Wish. Or maybe I’ll want to expand and clarify the matter somehow in subsequent books? Perhaps I’ll shed some light on the issue of Witcher medallions, their significance, and their connection to specific individuals? There are many possibilities, and the sky is the limit.
It is quite obvious that Sapkowski never played CD Projekt’s The Witcher games, as their schools are really nothing like Harry Potter’s Houses. Anyway, the writer later replied to a question about adaptations in general, once again claiming the inherent superiority of the written word to images, ‘animated or otherwise’:
Regardless of the quality of these adaptations, there are no dependencies or points of convergence between the literary original and its adaptation. The original stands alone, and every adaptation stands alone; you can’t translate words into images without losing something, and there can’t be any connections here. Moreover, adaptations are mostly visualisations, which means transforming written words into images, and there is no need to prove the superiority of the written word over images, it is obvious. The written word always and decidedly triumphs over images, and no picture – animated or otherwise – can match the power of the written word.
Of course, Sapkowski is entitled to his opinion, though it clearly appears to stem from a strong bias. For its part, CD Projekt RED still plans to incorporate some concepts from the author’s latest book, Crossroads of Ravens, in the upcoming game The Witcher IV (which won’t be released before 2027).
