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E3 2019: The Witcher 3.5 Would Have Made Money But Cyberpunk Dev Decided Against It

The Witcher developer CD Projekt Red could have developed The Witcher 3.5 and made a quick buck. However, th studio decided not to because it runs counter to the company’s ambition to always push the boundaries and try new things. That’s according to founder Marcin Iwinski, who said at E3 this week that CD Projekt Red is “not a games factory.”

“We would love at a certain point to tell more stories about The Witcher, but when and how I cannot tell you now,” he explained at the E3 Coliseum. “We are not a games factory. We treat games as an art.”

Iwinski said CD Projekt Red’s ambition is to “push the bar higher” with every new release. As such, while the Polish studio theoretically could have made The Witcher 3.5, it decided to try something completely new with Cyberpunk 2077 instead.

“We want to push the bar higher with every single game release. It’s not about getting The Witcher 3.5 out there which would be fairly easy–of course it’s very difficult. Using the same engine, telling the same stories; the technology is established. And making a quick dollar. But that’s not [what we do],” he explained.

In working on Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red will learn a lot about making new games, and some of these learnings could be applied to a new Witcher game potentially, Iwinski suggested. Overall, Iwinski said CD Projekt Red’s vision to always develop “new amazing gaming experiences.”

Also in the interview, Iwinski said CD Projekt Red wanted to create two main development teams inside the company after The Witcher 3 so it could be working on multiple big projects simultaneously. However, this proved too difficult for a variety of reasons and it didn’t happen. As such, the team that worked on The Witcher 3 shifted over to Cyberpunk 2077, Iwinski said.

Iwinski’s comments on The Witcher 3.5 are similar to what Halo studio head Bonnie Ross said recently. She spoke about how Microsoft considered developing Halo 5.5, but abandoned those ideas and instead pursued a much more ambitious game with Halo Infinite.

Finally, Iwinski said CD Projekt Red is currently in the polishing phase for Cyberpunk 2077. This is the most challenging part of the development process, Iwinski said, adding that he expects the team to be able to deliver “some amazing bells and whistles graphically” when the process is finished.

Cyberpunk 2077 launches on April 16, 2020 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. For more on the game–which features Keanu Reeves in a lead role–check out GameSpot’s preview of the new gameplay CD Projekt Red demoed at the show, as well as a look at its story.

More E3 News:

The Reason Marvel’s Avengers Spoiled Captain America’s Death

To the shock of many, the reveal trailer for Marvel’s Avengers debuted at E3 2019 shows the death of Captain America and what appears to be a flash forward in time to when a monument has been built in his honor. That’s a pretty heavy reveal to include in the trailer because it essentially gives away a huge early plot point, but when IGN spoke to Crystal Dynamics lead creative director and writer Shaun Escayg at E3 2019, he said the traumatic reveal was all by design… and that it may lead to one of Marvel’s more out-there concepts.

“Well, Cap went down with the ship. The Avengers’ leader is Cap. The guy who always is logical, who always is able to bring this dysfunctional family together. Without him, how do they cope? … This is part of the set up, part of the conflict. It’s, to me, the most exciting part of the story. What do the Avengers do without their beloved Captain?” Escayg said.

E3 2020 Dates Confirmed

E3 2020 is on. Amid speculation that the gaming industry’s major annual event is facing an uncertain future, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has followed tradition and put up a banner on the third and final day of E3 this year, inviting attendees back for next year’s expo. E3 2020 is set for June 9-11.

E3 has been a very different show this year. The absence of Sony led to a much different show floor than usual, as there was no PlayStation press conference or booth on the show floor, which is normally one of the biggest areas at the expo. The event is also still in flux as it welcomes in public attendees in addition to media and industry professionals. Some repeat attendees (including GameSpot staff) have noted that the show seemed less crowded this year. Those factors led to questions about what the future would hold, but now we know that the show will go on for at least one more year. Microsoft has already said it’s planning a big showing for Halo Infinite next year, and it’s safe to assume that the new Xbox, Scarlett, will be on display ahead of its Holiday 2020 launch.

The ESA also usually closes the show with a press release wrapping up the event and giving attendance numbers. If it follows suit this year, that may give a better idea of the perceived low attendance.

More E3 news:

You Can’t Play Marvel’s Avengers Campaign Multiplayer

During the Square Enix presentation for Marvel’s Avengers at E3 2019, it was said there will be gameplay with one to four players, but they left it at that. IGN followed up with the Crystal Dynamics developers and learned that the entire story campaign is single player only and has no multiplayer option.

After seeing the private Marvel’s Avengers gameplay demo at Square Enix’s E3 2019 booth, it was very clear the campaign was intended to be a single player experience. The demo was essentially the entire trailer shown to the public but they actually played out the full the gameplay sequences where you respond to the attack on the Golden Gate Bridge. As the level progresses, you’re put in control of each Avenger for a different segment and then it ends with a boss fight against Taskmaster. It was heavily scripted, kind of like Uncharted Tomb Raider, and had you switching from one Avenger to another for key story beats, so you can see why that wouldn’t work with two or more players.

E3 2019: The Biggest Games You Can Pre-Order Now (PS4, Switch, Xbox One, PC)

The E3 2019 press conferences are behind us, and we’ve seen a ton of exciting trailers for upcoming games, from Death Stranding and Watch Dogs Legion to Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077. As release dates have been revealed and gameplay footage is shown, many retailers have begun opening up pre-orders for these games, and quite a few of them have pre-order bonuses or various special editions available as well.

While some games are fairly straightforward to pre-order–just pick your system and you’ll receive the base game–others get complicated, with three or four editions to choose from and various amounts of in-game loot and physical collectibles available from each. Pre-order bonuses are also a huge thing, and retailers will often offer exclusive bonuses that are worth considering.

To save you from hopping between different websites trying to compare each edition on your own, we’ve hunted down all that information for you in our various pre-order guides. These guides have all the information you need about a game’s pre-order bonuses, what you’ll receive from each version, and the different pricing across various retailers. That way, you can make a more educated purchase and end up with the best edition for your budget.

As a reminder, prices and release dates are always tentative, and for games that are still a long ways off, it’s possible special editions will be announced in the future even if they don’t exist now. Be sure to look at the fine print before you seal the deal. Some retailers, like Amazon, GameStop, and Best Buy, have a lowest price guarantee so that if a game’s price drops between when you pre-order and when the game ships, you’ll be charged the lowest price (or refunded to match the difference). Certain retailers will charge you a bit of money upfront, while others will hold the charge until the game actually ships. Some don’t offer refunds; Amazon, on the other hand, will let you cancel at any time with no charge.

Consider this a general guide to pre-ordering all the biggest games shown during E3 2019, organized by release date. While we’ll provide an overview of each game’s pre-order bonuses below, be sure to check out our individual game guides for more detailed info on what each special edition contains and links to pre-order now.

Dota 2 Announces Auto Chess Game, Dota Underlords

A new game from Dota 2 called Dota Underlords has been announced, which is a standalone game of Auto Chess, inspired by the Dota 2 custom mod by Drodo Studio.

Dota announced last month that they were working on their own version of Auto Chess, saying more information would be released in the future.

Dota Underlords lets eights players battle against one another for dominance of the city, White Spire.

All Dota 2 Battle Pass owners are able to join in the beta starting Thursday, and an open beta is expected after approximately one week of “stress testing” the servers.

Players in open beta are able to play online against seven other players, practice their skills offline against bots, and join up together while playing against bots or other players in a party.

Marvel’s Avengers Will Have Microtransactions

During the Square Enix presentation for Marvel’s Avengers at E3 2019, it was said the game won’t have loot boxes or ways to pay to win, but you’ll notice they didn’t say there wouldn’t be microtransactions. IGN talked to the game developers about it and they confirmed that Marvel’s Avengers will indeed have microtransactions.

As for what those microtransactions will entail, they only shared a few things, while hinting there may be more.

Crystal Dynamics lead creative director Shaun Escayg said, “There will be custom outfits that you can purchase in microtransactions.”

Lead combat designer Vincent Napoli added, “There are other aesthetic ways to customize your player card and your player experience, but there is nothing that affects the gameplay.”

How Much Far From Home Could Make Opening Weekend

As if the MCU hasn’t spent enough time dominating the box office in 2019, Spider-Man: Far From Home is shaping up to be yet another lucrative release.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the sequel is tracking for an opening weekend gross of between $150 and $160 million in North America. Sony’s internal estimates currently place the opening weekend gross at $154 million, though insiders predict the gross could swell to as much as $180 million as the film’s marketing campaign ramps up.

While Far From Home probably won’t be breaking the record set by Avengers: Endgame earlier this year, which raked in $357,115,007 domestically on its opening weekend (according to Box Office Mojo), these figures are significantly higher than those of 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming. Homecoming earned $117,027,503 in its opening weekend. These Far From Home figures are comparable to Captain Marvel’s opening weekend gross, which clocked in at $153,433,423 (again, according to Box Office Mojo).

Fallout Shelter Will Be Playable in Tesla Cars

Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard announced that Fallout Shelter will be added to the library of games playable in Tesla’s Model S, Model 3, and Model X vehicles.

Howard appeared in an E3 Coliseum panel with Tesla CEO Elon Musk and moderator Geoff Keighley. “We are working on Fallout Shelter for the cars,” Howard said. “It’ll be free.” Fallout Shelter will join Cuphead, first revealed on IGN recently via my own interview with Musk, as well as Beach Buggy Racing 2: Tesla Edition, a cartoony racing game that uses the car’s steering wheel and pedals to control the on-screen action, as games available in the all-electric vehicles. A gameplay video showed Beach Buggy Racing 2’s avatars all driving Tesla vehicles. These games join the TeslAtari suite, which includes a number of old-school Atari classics like Lunar Lander and Centipede. All games in Teslas can only be played while the car is in Park.

Xbox Head Says ‘E3 Is Not as Good’ Without Sony Presence

Healthy competition is not only good for the consumer; it’s good for industry events as well, and Xbox head Phil Spencer said E3 “is not as good” with PlayStation taking the year off.

In an interview with Giant Bomb (via Comicbook.com), Xbox head Phil Spencer said, “I wish Sony was here. E3 is not as good when they’re not here.”

Spencer spoke further about the current state of the industry, competition, and the future of crossplay. “In the last 20 years, we’ve tripled the number of gamers on the planet. I think that’s such a huge opportunity for us, as an industry. For me, I try to look at things that create artificial boundaries to people enjoying video games.”