Witcher 2 dev drops legal action against pirates

CD Projekt Red has said it will no longer seek legal action against gamers that allegedly download The Witcher 2 illegally.

Back in December, the polish studio claimed that for every copy of the game that had been purchased legitmately, more than four copies had been pirated. The developer then began taking legal action, although only against players that it was certain had downloaded the game.

But CD Projekt Red is now withdrawing from this action. GamaSutra reports an open letter to consumers from studio co-founder Marcin Iwinski reiterated the team’s stance against game piracy, but claimed it did not want its fanbase to lose faith in them.

The letter read: "Being part of a community is a give-and-take process. We only succeed because you have faith in us, and we have worked hard over the years to build up that trust. We were sorry to see that many gamers felt that our actions didn’t respect the faith that they have put into CD Projekt RED.

"Our fans always have been and remain our greatest concern, and we pride ourselves on the fact that you all know that we listen to you and take your opinions to heart.

"We’ve heard your concerns, listened to your voices, and we’re responding to them. But you need to help us and do your part: don’t be indifferent to piracy… Unless you support the developers who make the games you play, unless you pay for those games, we won’t be able to produce new excellent titles for you."

Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of The Witcher 2 are currently in the works – although it has sparked a clash between CD Projekt Red, Namco Bandai and THQ.