CD Projekt Red honors BioWare as The Witcher celebrates 19th anniversary

As The Witcher reaches its 19th anniversary, CD Projekt Red is looking back at its origins, explicitly crediting BioWare for the success of its debut title. According to a report by GamesRadar+, the studio took to Bluesky to acknowledge that their ambitious dream of bringing Andrzej Sapkowski’s book series to life would not have been possible without direct support from the Canadian RPG developer.

The foundation of a partnership

CD Projekt Red noted that BioWare provided essential technical and industry support during the development of the original 2007 game. This included licensing the Aurora Engine—the technology behind Neverwinter Nights—and sharing invaluable technical knowledge. Beyond the engine, BioWare provided the fledgling Polish studio with a platform at E3, allowing them to showcase their work alongside high-profile titles like Jade Empire.

This relationship began years earlier, when CD Projekt—then primarily a PC game distributor—found success by creating high-quality Polish localizations for games like Baldur’s Gate. Co-founder Marcin Iwiński recalled to NoClip, as cited by GamesRadar+, that the original publishing deal for Baldur’s Gate was a major financial risk that helped build the foundation for the company’s future transition into game development. When CD Projekt Red later traveled to Edmonton to demo their early, “half-broken” version of The Witcher to BioWare’s leadership, the reception was positive enough to spark the collaborative mentorship that helped define the studio’s early path.

Why it matters

For players, this history serves as a reminder of how industry connections and engine sharing helped shape the landscape of modern RPGs. The professional relationship between CD Projekt Red and BioWare demonstrates the collaborative nature of development, where the success of an established titan like BioWare directly enabled a smaller, regional distributor to evolve into the major global studio behind The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077.

While the industry continues to evolve, these insights into the early struggles of CD Projekt Red highlight the risks studios take to enter the market. Understanding these shared histories adds context to the design philosophies that defined the early Witcher games, and underscores how far the studio has come since its days of localizing titles for the Polish market.