The Witcher. The History of the Franchise. From Fantasy to Cult Gaming Saga

Today this appearance is known to any gamer: white hair, two blades (“silver for monsters, steel for people”), cat-like pupils. In just about twenty years, Geralt of Rivia—the hero of the “The Witcher” saga—turned from a character of Polish fantasy into a star of one of the most successful and ambitious gaming franchises. Since the release of the first installment, “The Witcher” has become a real international phenomenon. With its help, CD Projekt RED managed to pull off the impossible—selling an unusual aesthetic, a soundtrack, and the culture of Eastern Europe to an audience accustomed to clichés from Dungeons & Dragons. The book tells the story of CD Projekt and “The Witcher”’s unique triumph—full of chaos and errors that nearly destroyed the studio. The author relies not only on already published materials (sometimes exclusively in Polish)—articles, documents, and interviews—but also on previously unknown testimonies from eyewitnesses, conveyed in a language far from formal.