Andrzej Sapkowski Sold the Rights of The Witcher to CD Projekt Red for $9,500

Tyler Fischer June 2, 2017 8:14 AM EST

CD Projekt Red turned The Witcher license it bought for $9,500 USD into a 20 million plus selling franchise.

Last month, a rumor surfaced on the Internet, that claimed that Andrzej Sapkowski, creator of The Witcher series, sold the license for $4,000 to Metropolis Software, who developed a Witcher game that never released. However, these rumors were eventually extinguished by Adrian Chmielarz, CEO of the defunct studio.

But neither of that is here nor there really. But what is more relevant is what CD Projekt paid for the franchise license, because as you will know, the developer has made a trilogy with the IP so far and has propelled it into the spotlight, particularly via the third game in the series, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

So, how much did CD Projekt pay? Well according to Sebastian Zieliński, former and original head of CDPR, the Polish developer paid for the license over two installments — one of 15000PLN and another of 20000PLN. This translates to (roughly) $9,500 USD of today’s money.

Interestingly, Zieliński also revealed that the first draft of the contract was actually rejected by Sapkowski, because CD Projekt actually misspelled Geralt’s name as Gerald.

As you may know, the first game The Witcher released in 2007, garnering decent critical appraise and a very hardcore cult following. Then in 2011, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings released: arriving with a strong critical reception, a bigger cult following, and a push into the mainstream (though it wasn’t quite there yet). Then in 2015, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt released: receiving some of the best critical praise of this generation and more Game of the Year awards than any other game that year. Further — and more importantly — the game sold (and continues to sell) very well, and put the series and the developer into the spotlight and mainstream.

And then just last month, it was revealed that The Witcher was being brought to the TV world via Netflix, in what could end up being a move that propels the series to new astronomical heights. From $9,500 USD to a Netflix TV series..not too shabby.

What do you think? One of the greatest deals — for CD Projekt — of all time? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Additionally, be sure to check out the official DualShocker’s casting of the upcoming Netflix series.