Original: The debut trailer for the follow-up to CD Projekt's PC RPG The Witcher has cropped up on YouTube. Though the video is boldly marked for "internal use only," the slick presentation has many suspecting a coordinated release. Regardless of the circumstance, here's the first look at the game, subtitled "Assassins of Kings."

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Update: "We can't and won't try to deny the facts," CD Project RED CEO Adam Kicinski said of the leaked video in a statement, explaining "we are looking for a potential publisher (or publishers) for this title, and this leak is an uncontrolled... Read more

Update: Lamenting that "we cannot talk with [co-developer Widescreen Games] in normal business way," CD Projekt has issued a response that places the blame of the delayed payment and subsequent project freeze on Widescreen Games.

Though CD Projekt has still yet to offer its promised statement on the fate of The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf, co-developer Widescreen Games today announced that the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 RPG has been suspended due to "financial issues."

Announced last December, The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf was said to be "completely rebuilt pixel by pixel" over CD Projekt's 2007 PC release, complete with enhanced graphics and a new combat system. It was due this fall, published by Atari.

"The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf has been suspended pending the resolution of financial issues between the different project partners," Widescreen... Read more

The founders of The Witcher developer CD Projekt, Michal Kicinski and Marcin Iwinski, today won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in Poland.

The two developers beat out eleven others in competition for the honor, and will represent Poland in the final worldwide competition next June.

Criteria for the judging included "resourcefulness, innovativeness, good management and the measure of worldwide success achieved by the company by offering products better than those offered by foreign competitors."

Kicinski and Iwinski founded CD Projekt in 1994, becoming the first Polish company to sell CD-based software, and one of the few Polish videogame developers.

CD Projekt was initially known as the first publisher in Poland to release local translations of foreign-developed titles, including Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment, and many others.

The company's internal development team CD Projekt Red was founded in 2002, and released its first title last year in The Witcher (PC). The RPG was a surprise hit, selling over one million copies worldwide. A remastered console version of the game is now in development.

Update: The first trailer and screenshots have arrived.

Publisher Atari today confirmed reports that developer CD Projekt RED will be bringing its acclaimed PC fantasy RPG The Witcher to PS3 and Xbox 360 next fall.

Dubbed The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf, the game is being "completely rebuilt pixel by pixel" for consoles and runs on an entirely new engine. As previously reported, it will sport enhanced visuals, a "completely new combat system" and new animations.

"Console gamers don't want to be treated like kids; the're ready for deep story-driven games, and we think we're delivering one of the deepest console RPGs ever with The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf," said CD Projekt RED CEO Adam Kicinski.

"We're not about to dumb down our games for anyone. We want to give players the best games, regardless of platform," added CD Projekt co-founder Michal Kicinski. "Anyone concerned that we're going to somehow offer a shallow RPG or abandon the PC platform simply because we're working on consoles can stop worrying."

Atari is billing the game as the "ultimate console RPG," with CD Projekt noting its belief that the remake will be the "definitive console RPG." The adaptation is being developed by CD Projekt RED and Widescreen Games, which provided its DaVinci engine.

With developer CD Projekt RED teasing a major announcement, a supposed leaked video has revealed that the developer's well-received PC RPG The Witcher is heading to PS3 and Xbox 360 and will "look much better" than the PC release.

"The controls are very different in the console adaptation," designer Jakob Stilinsky stated in the video, embedded below. "They are actually better than in the original."

"We created a completely new combat system that is more dynamic and more engaging," he added. "In the console version, players have full control. There are hundreds of new mo-cap animations in the console version."

Along with a new combat and motion-captured animations, the release will sport enhanced visuals, with Stilinsky claiming the console versions "look much better."

When reached for comment, CD Projekt marketing VP Tom Ohle did not confirm or deny the game's existence, telling Shacknews: "We haven't made any official statements about upcoming games... before anyone blows a gasket about... Read more

CD Projekt CEO Michal Kicinski recently said that his company is having trouble convincing publishers to join its Good Old Games digital distribution service due to the platform's lack of DRM.

"We're trying to convince [publishers] there is nothing to be afraid of," said Kicinski in a GamesIndustry interview. "DRM-free, that is something they are really scared of, but on the other hand we can say 'all of those games are available pirated widely so it's better to sell them for small money than make the customer's life difficult and get some more revenues.'"

Developer CD Projekt, best known for the PC RPG The Witcher, recently launched the public beta of Good Old Games. The service offers cheap, Vista-friendly versions of classic PC titles such as Fallout and Freespace, all distributed via digital download.

Games included on the service must be stripped of any copy protection, the GOG website proclaiming "we hate draconian DRM schemes just as much as you do."

"I had Steam but I had the problem that my internet provider could not work with it so I couldn't use the games I bought," added Kacinski. "I think that if somebody is paying for the game then they deserve own it, not with a certain list of... Read more

Black Isle Studios' post-apocalyptic RPGs Fallout and Fallout 2 will be among the many long-lost PC titles soon re-released by Good Old Games, a new online venture from The Witcher (PC) developer CD Projekt.

Located at GOG.com and slated to launch in September, the online store will sell DRM-free digital downloads of old-school PC games at $5.99 or $9.99 a pop. A closed public beta will go live on August 1, with the site currently accepting beta applications.

"Our main goal is to try and deliver the best games of all time for PC," marketing VP Tom Ohle explained to Shacknews during an in-depth interview.

The site will initially carry titles from publishers Interplay and Codemasters, including the previously-mentioned Fallout series, MDK 1 and 2, Giants: Citizen Kabuto, Freespace 1 and 2, Sacrifice, Descent 1-3 and Kingpin: Life of Crime.

While a full list of the store's launch offerings has yet to be finalized, other games slated to appear by September include Shattered Steel, Jagged Alliance 2, Redneck Rampage, Operation: Flashpoint, Colin McRae, and TOCA Race Driver 3.

Each game sports full compatibility with Windows XP and Vista, and... Read more