{"id":1778603,"date":"2026-02-18T15:58:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T12:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1778603"},"modified":"2026-02-18T15:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T12:58:09","slug":"we-werent-really-paying-attention-the-witchers-lead-story-designer-reveals-why-the-first-games-final-cg-cutscene-didnt-involve-the-story-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1778603","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;We weren&#8217;t really paying attention&#8221; The Witcher&#8217;s lead story designer reveals why the first game&#8217;s final CG cutscene didn&#8217;t involve the story team"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/the-witcher\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      The Witcher<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">&#8220;We weren&#8217;t really paying attention&#8221; The Witcher&#8217;s lead story designer reveals why the first game&#8217;s final CG cutscene didn&#8217;t involve the story team<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Second ending.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Witcher-1_ending-CG-cutscene.png?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"The Witcher 1 final CG cutscene\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"Witcher-1_ending-CG-cutscene.png\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>CD Projekt Red<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Fran Ruiz avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/fran-j-ruiz-author.png?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Fran Ruiz avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"fran-j-ruiz-author.png\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/fran-ruiz\">Fran Ruiz<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Contributor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-02-18T15:58:09+00:00\">Feb. 18, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-witcher-1-lead-story-designer-talks-final-cg-cutscene?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          1 comment<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"94c6c19a-49d3-4868-842b-58e7358b0969\" data-name=\"The Witcher\" data-follow-text=\"Follow The Witcher\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following The Witcher\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow The Witcher\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following The Witcher\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow The Witcher\" title=\"Follow The Witcher\"><br \/>\n  Follow The Witcher<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>The long-awaited <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/the-witcher-remake\">remake of the first Witcher game<\/a> is seemingly on the back-burner as CD Projekt Red has reportedly added support studio Fool&#8217;s Theory to the massive development effort of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/the-witcher-4\">The Witcher 4<\/a>. Moreover, there have been recurring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/witcher-3-expansion-rumours-analyst-100-percent-certain-cd-projekt-red-will-release-significant-new-content-this-year\">rumours of an all-new Witcher 3 DLC<\/a> made by the same studio. Meanwhile, original lead story designer Artur Ganszyniec has been revisiting Geralt of Rivia&#8217;s first big RPG adventure, giving longtime fans all-new insights into the game&#8217;s making.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@artur-ganszyniec\">Ganszyniec&#8217;s YouTube channel<\/a> already houses his complete playthrough of the game with valuable commentary, so we highly recommend diehards to slowly chew through it if they have the time. That said, the story designer&#8217;s most shocking revelation (hat tip to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.videogameschronicle.com\/news\/that-was-a-mistake-i-think-the-witcher-1s-lead-writer-says-the-story-team-didnt-know-about-its-twist-ending\/\">VGC<\/a>) came near the very end, during the 26th and final episode of the series, which you can watch below:<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Ep. 26 \u2013The Witcher with a designer's commentary: Epilogue\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fwRtKBkq0N8?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/fwRtKBkq0N8\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Ep. 26 \u2013The Witcher with a designer&#8217;s commentary: Epilogue<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fwRtKBkq0N8\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>At the 1:30:22 mark, once the &#8216;artwork cutscene&#8217; in line with the rest of the game&#8217;s ends, he talks about what happened between the story team and the rest of the studio. Apparently, a final CG cutscene (which is part of the game as we all know it) was added without the team knowing it. &#8220;That&#8217;s where we wanted the game to end, with an open question and open future&#8230; But while we were finishing the game, someone decided \u2013 the board decided or Micha\u0142 Kici\u0144ski (co-founder of CDPR) decided \u2013 that we needed an animated outro for the game,&#8221; Ganszyniec says.<\/p>\n<p>The CG cutscene introduced the idea of Witchers that are hunting down kings, which led directly into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/the-witcher-2-assassins-of-kings\">The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings<\/a>. &#8220;The script for what we&#8217;re seeing now, this animation, was created not really involving the story team. It was sort of&#8230; we weren&#8217;t really paying attention,&#8221; the lead story designer adds before elaborating on what the story team&#8217;s original plans were. &#8220;That&#8217;s why the second Witcher is very political and there&#8217;s not really room for exploring who Geralt is, his family, his history and stuff like this.&#8221; If you&#8217;ve played through the entire Geralt trilogy, the shift is obvious, but having more clarity on what went down behind the scenes definitely helps after all these years.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Regardless, even Ganszyniec concludes he&#8217;s excited to see how the remake turns out. As for the different route The Witcher 2 took, it could be argued <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/the-witcher-3-wild-hunt\">The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt<\/a> went back to a more personal story with Geralt and his family at the centre of a high-stakes epic.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>The long-awaited <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/the-witcher-remake\">remake of the first Witcher game<\/a> is seemingly on the back-burner as CD Projekt Red has reportedly added support studio Fool&#8217;s Theory to the massive development effort of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/the-witcher-4\">The Witcher 4<\/a>. Moreover, there have been recurring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/witcher-3-expansion-rumours-analyst-100-percent-certain-cd-projekt-red-will-release-significant-new-content-this-year\">rumours of an all-new Witcher 3 DLC<\/a> made by the same studio. Meanwhile, original lead story designer Artur Ganszyniec has been revisiting Geralt of Rivia&#8217;s first big RPG adventure, giving longtime fans all-new insights into the game&#8217;s making.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@artur-ganszyniec\">Ganszyniec&#8217;s YouTube channel<\/a> already houses his complete playthrough of the game with valuable commentary, so we highly recommend diehards to slowly chew through it if they have the time. That said, the story designer&#8217;s most shocking revelation (hat tip to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.videogameschronicle.com\/news\/that-was-a-mistake-i-think-the-witcher-1s-lead-writer-says-the-story-team-didnt-know-about-its-twist-ending\/\">VGC<\/a>) came near the very end, during the 26th and final episode of the series, which you can watch below:<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Ep. 26 \u2013The Witcher with a designer's commentary: Epilogue\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fwRtKBkq0N8?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/fwRtKBkq0N8\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Ep. 26 \u2013The Witcher with a designer&#8217;s commentary: Epilogue<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fwRtKBkq0N8\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>At the 1:30:22 mark, once the &#8216;artwork cutscene&#8217; in line with the rest of the game&#8217;s ends, he talks about what happened between the story team and the rest of the studio. Apparently, a final CG cutscene (which is part of the game as we all know it) was added without the team knowing it. &#8220;That&#8217;s where we wanted the game to end, with an open question and open future&#8230; But while we were finishing the game, someone decided \u2013 the board decided or Micha\u0142 Kici\u0144ski (co-founder of CDPR) decided \u2013 that we needed an animated outro for the game,&#8221; Ganszyniec says.<\/p>\n<p>The CG cutscene introduced the idea of Witchers that are hunting down kings, which led directly into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/the-witcher-2-assassins-of-kings\">The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings<\/a>. &#8220;The script for what we&#8217;re seeing now, this animation, was created not really involving the story team. It was sort of&#8230; we weren&#8217;t really paying attention,&#8221; the lead story designer adds before elaborating on what the story team&#8217;s original plans were. &#8220;That&#8217;s why the second Witcher is very political and there&#8217;s not really room for exploring who Geralt is, his family, his history and stuff like this.&#8221; If you&#8217;ve played through the entire Geralt trilogy, the shift is obvious, but having more clarity on what went down behind the scenes definitely helps after all these years.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Regardless, even Ganszyniec concludes he&#8217;s excited to see how the remake turns out. As for the different route The Witcher 2 took, it could be argued <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/the-witcher-3-wild-hunt\">The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt<\/a> went back to a more personal story with Geralt and his family at the centre of a high-stakes epic.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News The Witcher &#8220;We weren&#8217;t really paying attention&#8221; The Witcher&#8217;s lead story designer reveals why the first game&#8217;s final CG cutscene didn&#8217;t involve the story team Second ending. Image credit: CD Projekt Red News by Fran Ruiz Contributor Published on Feb. 18, 2026 1 comment Follow The Witcher The long-awaited remake of the first [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1778603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1778603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778603\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1778603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1778603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1778603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}