Stardock Impulse Adds Enhanced Witcher

Publisher Stardock (Galactic Civilizations, Sins of a Solar Empire) announced that it will release CD Projekt Red's The Witcher: Enhanced Edition on digital distribution platform Impulse. The title is an upgraded version of 2007 PC game The Witcher, which was published by Atari and sold over 800,000 copies. Enhanced Edition will add improvements and content to the original, such as two adventures, 200 animations, reduced loading times, and the ability to use any combination of localized voice recordings and translated subtitles. Notably, all of the changes and additions to the game itself will also be offered as a free 2GB update to owners of the original release. Speaking with Gamasutra, senior producer Tomasz Gop explained that the release is largely a response to the company's new substantial fanbase. "Close to 300,000 people registered on our forums and community and are still active, and they're requesting new features and changes and whatever. We took the most-demanded stuff." Due September 16, Enhanced Edition will also include two music CDs, making-of videos, an official game guide, and a map of The Witcher's world, which will be available will be available for download in a patch post-release. The Polish publisher and developer is itself working on a digital download service, which launched its "Early Access Beta" two days ago. Titled GOG.com, or Good Old Games, the service offers low-priced, DRM-free vintage titles, such as Black Isle's Fallout 2, Volition's Freespace 2, and Bohemia Interactive's Operation Flashpoint. "We're thrilled to release The Witcher: Enhanced Edition on Impulse," says CD Projekt Red CEO Adam Kicinski. "Stardock’s values fit well in line with our own; keeping gamers happy is one of our main goals, and The Witcher: Enhanced Edition is the ultimate fan service. We took all of the fan feedback about the original game and used it to improve the game in a huge number of ways. We hope that this allows us to expose the game to new audiences and old friends alike."