Fans of Geralt’s adult-themed adventures in Andrzej Sapkowski’s gritty universe will be happy to know that a clever member of Neogaf’s forums has translated a CD Projekt earnings report that not only describes the current status of their next game, but also a few other interesting tidbits as well.

Concerning the status of the game, the document lays out the following facts:

• Finished:
  Dialogue lines are closed & implemented
  They are currently recording voice overs for each language version of the game
  The world of the game is completed – locations are finished, all important gameplay mechanics are already implemented
  Graphic assets and animations are nearing completion
  The game can already be played in full
  REDengine 3 supports all 3 platforms
  The physical elements of the collector’s edition are in production
• What’s left:
  Implementation of the remaining side quests
  Importing voice overs and testing their quality/changing them
  Gameplay testing and balancing
  Continuous work on improving the quality of graphic assets, animations, effects and sounds – this will last until just before going gold
  REDengine3 optimization
• The reasoning behind the 2015 release:
  Less competition
  Improved effectiveness of marketing campaign targeted at aware gamers and not random gift-buyers.
  Better polished game: the last 20% of time stands for 80% of the game’s attractiveness.
  More new-gen consoles on the market = more customers

As a fan of CD Projekt, this only serves to reinforce the respect I have for them. That last 20% is incredibly important, since it’s that spit & polish that separates a good game from an excellent game. Looking the list over it seems like they are at a point where they feel comfortable about the product; which is something that should calm worried Witcher diehards that might have feared a Dragon Age 2 style fiasco from their favorite European developer.

Also of note, and perhaps even more so, is the tidbit involving their upcoming projects…one of which is apparently a mobile Witcher game.

Witcher comics – digital and paper
Continuous intensive marketing action for TW3
Witcher 3 preorders
Release of The Witcher Adventure Game (board game) – Q3 2014
2 mobile titles: The Witcher Adventure Game and a new multiplatform project.
Together with an external development studio we are working on the multiplatform mobile game, which uses advanced features of tablets and smartphones
We are entering a completely new territory, both in terms of gameplay and business model
Work on the project began over a year ago, independently from TW3 and Cyberpunk 2077.
The game will be announced together with beta sign-up.
Commercial release this year.

Even CD Projekt seems to like the temperature of the mobile market, though I can’t say I see much opportunity there for a big name developer that focuses on storytelling and depth. I remember Bethesda trying to move the Elder Scrolls onto the old Nokia n-gage with very mixed results, so don’t blame me for thinking history might repeat itself.

2015 looks to be a good year for the Polish developer regardless…and even better for CRPG fans.