CD Projekt RED has earned the title of Developer of the Year from the PSU staff and community.
CD Projekt RED achieved greatness with The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, which launched in May for PS4, Xbox One and PC. The follow up to Witcher II: Assassin of Kings in 2011, the Warsaw-based developer’s latest title sold more than six times as many copies in its first week as its predecessor, topping the UK charts for the year to date. All told, players purchased more than six million copies of the game in its first six weeks on the shelves.
The Witcher III was incredibly well received by players and critics, notching up an impressive 9.5/10 in the official review where it was praised as being a “can’t miss experience, overflowing with combat, quests, crafting, mini-games and all other sorts of open-world goodness”.
In addition to the game itself, the Polish developer has been praised for consistent release of free DLC, handing out more than a dozen chunks of content (including a new game plus mode) after the game’s launch. In addition to the free patches, CD Projekt RED has also released a fantastic DLC expansion, Hearts of Stone. We can expect more DLC for the Witcher in 2016, after which CD Projekt RED will likely focus on its upcoming Sci-Fi RPG Cyberpunk 2077. But don’t hold your breath for that one, as we probably won’t be seeing it until 2017 at the earliest.
Runner-up – Dontnod Entertainment
CD Projekt RED was followed in the developer category by French studio Dontnod Entertainment, the collective mind behind Life is Strange. The episodic graphic adventure boasted a gripping narrative that took the gaming world by storm. Dontnod is still relatively new to the scene, with Life is Strange being only the second game the developer has worked on. The next title we can expect from the studio is an RPG called Vampyr, set for a 2017 release. A sequel to Life is Strange is also in the works. Congratulations to both developers for creating compelling content by committing heart and soul to their art.