It looks like two famous game companies will be going head-to-head soon. Not in a war of games - which would be expected in the gaming industry - but a war of words.
On one side of the ring we have The Chinese Room, the creators of "Amnesia" and "Everybody's Gone to the Rapture," while on the other side, there's CD Projekt RED, the minds behind the massively popular "The Witcher" series and upcoming "Cyberpunk 2077."
The situation began after GameSpot posted an article about CD Projekt RED's upcoming "Cyberpunk." The article references comments made by CEO Marcin Iwinski, who said that the game will be "more ambitious on every single front, in the development and on the marketing side" relative to "The Witcher 3."
Furthermore, he revealed in the interview that he will be following the same model that made "Grand Theft Auto" and "Red Dead Redemption" developer Rockstar Games so successful.
"For us, it's never about money," Iwinski said. "Yes, we deliver results, but we always explain to our investors that we have a long-term perspective. They shouldn't expect us to annualise, or suddenly start releasing games just because there's a business opportunity. Fundamentally, The Witcher 3 has proven that... and right now, we have a lot of credit, so we should use that and take the time to make Cyberpunk something really meaningful for the whole industry. It has to reach the next quality bar, and I'm not talking just for us, but for the market.
"If we look at our role models, what Rockstar is doing is amazing. It's not like, 'We have to ship a game or we may not hit our financial goals.' It's, 'Here's GTA V, and by the way, it's the best game ever made.' We're all looking forward to Red Dead Redemption 2, because you know they'll show something and you'll be like, 'Oh my god.'"
Gamespot posted a link to the article on Twitter, which prompted the typical reactions. However, it also garnered the attention of The Chinese Room, which took the opportunity to post a snide remark about CD Projekt Red.
But just as sexist if that image is anything to go by... https://t.co/jlLW0lWP6z
— The Chinese Room (@ChineseRoom) April 29, 2016
The statement insinuates that "The Witcher" is sexist and CD Projekt Red as a whole by extension.
So, is The Chinese Room correct in its observation? "The Witcher" series is known for featuring scantilly clad women, nude women and even the occasional sex scene. However, the series is also known for featuring powerful women that are more than capable of holding their own. In fact, "The Witcher 3" featured a female character named Ciri, who is one of the two main characters of the game, the other one being the series protagonist Geralt Of Rivea.
The Chinese Room has shared similar opinions of game designs in the past, having also been critical about the character design decisions of Quiet, who was a female character in "Metal Gear Solid V."
CD Projekt RED has yet to an issue a statement and hopefully it won't. Both companies made waves at BAFTA 2016, so hopefully they can bury whatever hatchets they have and get back to developing whatever games they have in store.
