The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt from CD Projekt Red was one of the games shown on Microsoft’s stage during their pre-E3 presentation. It’s a next-gen open-world extravaganza of witching, so it made sense that it was one of the games touted as being extra awesome on the Xbox One thanks to Kinect-enabled voice commands and the “power of the cloud.”
What struck a few fans as odd was just the fact that a famously anti-DRM developer like CD Projekt Red would even strike up a deal with Microsoft for their notoriously restrictive Xbox One console. CDP co-founder Marcin Iwiński told Eurogamer right after the conference that they didn’t have full details of the console DRM policy.
“We have not received anything from Microsoft until today on this one and, before we form any definite opinions here, we would like to have this process explained in details by the platform holder.
“From our side, we will be of course looking for the most gamer friendly solution.”
Iwiński later clarified that they didn’t want to “punish” Xbox One gamers and that ultimately “it’s the clients who make the final decision.”
Another puzzling aspect to the relationship is the fact that the Xbox One will not actually work in CDP’s native Poland at launch according to an official list of supported countries. Iwiński told Game Informer that he was taken by surprise by the console not working in his country.
“I was just in a restaurant and saw the list,” Iwinski told us. “I was surprised, and I really hope that it isn’t final. I think Polish gamers will speak out loud. From my perspective, it’s a sad situation.”
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be available DRM-free to PC gamers at GOG.com in 2014.
Gaming sure seems to have its fair share of legal disputes. This time, it’s Duke Nukem creator 3D Realms filing a lawsuit against Gearbox over $2 million in unpaid royalties and advances for Duke Nukem Forever. Evidence cited in the Texas court filing include emails sent to 3D Realms’ George Broussard and Scott Miller from Gearbox president Randy Pitchford allegedly agreeing to the terms of the deal.
“Even in the worst case, I am prepared to make sure that debt is repaid in exchange for the opportunity to drive the brand forward and generate profit through the development of the big ticket Duke Nukem video games for many years to come.”
Although Gearbox has not formally filed a response, they did supply Kotaku with a statement.
“Ironically, Scott Miller himself provided the best response when he wrote: ‘… filed lawsuits are entirely one-sided statements, based on knee-deep BS and with more spin than a top.'”
One of the things that Microsoft got right with their Xbox 360 system is the little popup and sound of getting an Achievement. Love them or hate them, that indicator is a direct ping to the human need for immediate positive feedback. The Xbox One will change the Achievement system a bit. Major Nelson and Cierra McDonald, the Xbox Live Achievement Service Program Director, explained some of the details.
The new system will have Achievements and Challenges. Achievements will work much like they do now. Games will come with a list of goals that you can complete in-game to get the Pavlovian ding and some points added to your Gamerscore. You can attempt to fulfill an Achievement at any time because they don’t officially expire. (Ha! Just try to get those multiplayer Achievements for Perfect Dark Zero now!) The new wrinkle is that Xbox One programs outside of games, like music and video apps, can also have Achievements. App-based Achievements will not have Gamerscore points.
Challenges are new. They are time-limited. Developers and publishers can add or subtract them at will, like a weekend event challenge, or a themed goal based on a hot new internet meme. Challenges can’t have Gamerscore, but they can unlock other rewards.
– Challenges are time based.
– Challenges do not give out Gamerscore.
– Challenges may cross titles, but achievements cannot.
– Challenges can be unlocked by the community.
An Achievement activity feed will also be a part of the Xbox One Dashboard to keep you up to date on what your friends are accomplishing and what new Challenges are being offered.
