Andrzej Sapkowski signs new rights deal with CD Projekt

The Witcher creator Andrzej Sapkowski has signed a new rights deal with CD Projekt.

To coincide with the release of the series’ all-new Netflix series ahead of the holidays, CD Projekt revealed the new agreement not only “confirms” the developer retains the rights to The Witcher IP for graphic novels, merchandise, and video and board games, it also grants new rights, too (thanks, Eurogamer).

“We’ve always admired Mr. Andrzej Sapkowski’s works – a great inspiration for the team here at CD Projekt Red,” said CD Projekt boss, Adam Kiciński. “I believe today marks a new stage in our continued relationship.”

CD Projekt received an official demand for 60 million Polish zloty (£12.4m) in additional royalties from Sapkowski back in October 2018. The studio subsequently denied the demand in a statement on its site, calling the claims for additional royalties ‘groundless’.

CD Projekt also took the decision to upload Sapkowski’s initial correspondence supporting his claim, as sent by legal representatives, detailing his arguments. The figure of 60 million zloty was reached by factoring about six per cent of CD Projekt’s profits as a ‘conservative’ payment, and the letter states the amount of money Sapkowski has so far received for the Witcher’s copyright ‘is too low’.

Now, however, both parties insist “the agreement satisfies and fully clarifies the needs and expectations of both parties, past and present, and sets out a framework for the future cooperation between the two sides”, although the content of the agreement remains confidential.

In related news, CD Projekt’s RPG The Witcher 3 hit its all-time concurrent player record on Steam… more than four years after the game first launched.

As also reported by Eurogamer, CD Projekt community manager Marcin Marmot noted the bump in popularity on Twitter but since then, concurrent players figures have continued to rise, hitting another all-time high peak of nearly 102,000 players.