The Witcher 3’s Biggest Fear Is Batman

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, released in 2015, is still considered “the best RPG of all time.” However, the stress CD Projekt Red experienced at the time belies its success, which is fueled by a hidden anxiety. According to studio executives, Witcher 3’s biggest fear wasn’t a monster or a rival RPG, but Batman: Arkham Knight.

The Witcher 3 Was Genuinely Scared of Batman

CD Projekt’s co-CEO Michal Nowakowski admitted in an interview that they experienced significant anxiety during the lead-up to Witcher 3’s release due to Rocksteady’s Arkham Knight. Negotiations with major retailers, particularly in the US and UK, further intensified the rivalry between the two games.

Nowakowski summarized the situation by saying, “Chains like Gamestop have certain storefronts. At that time, the Batman release window coincided with ours. Warner Bros. was both our distributor and Batman’s publisher, so it was clear who would get priority.”

To promote The Witcher 3, the CD Projekt team toured stores in the US and Europe, trying to pitch their game to giants like Walmart and GameStop. However, they were frequently met with the retort, “You’re not Bethesda.” Furthermore, it seemed inevitable that Warner Bros. would give more support to its own game, Arkham Knight.

Amidst all this stress, luck smiled upon them: Batman: Arkham Knight was delayed by a few weeks. This gave Witcher 3 breathing space on store shelves. The rest is now well-known: Geralt’s adventure has become a cult classic.

In the intervening decade, Witcher 3 has made its mark on gaming history not only with its sales but also with the depth it brought to its game design. But it seems that in the shadow of that success once lived the fear of The Dark Knight — and perhaps that fear pushed the studio to even greater perfection.

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