The Trials of Triumph: A Developer’s Journey Through Epic Challenges in The Witcher 2

The Witcher 2 antagonist Draug is the kind of creature that required the CDPR developer to attempt 46 times before achieving victory.

Longtime CDPR developer Pawel Sasko, who currently serves as associate game director on the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, recounted his experience as “employee #86” during discussions about The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition. It appears that the Draug encounter, in particular, caused Sasko considerable frustration.

“My role was to resolve glitches & complete the game on Hard mode,” Sasko remarked. “Defeating Draug the first time took me 46 attempts; I was losing my mind. I discovered several bugs, including a memory leak, and felt quite accomplished!”

In the same Twitter thread, Sasko revealed the initial script for The Blood Baron, often regarded as The Witcher 3’s best quest, was 40 pages long before a single line of dialogue was even included.

Sasko has come a long way since his QA days for The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition, having taken on roles such as lead quest designer for The Witcher 3 and later as quest director for Cyberpunk 2077. He noted back in October that the initial feedback for Cyberpunk 2077 was disappointing enough that CDPR might “never” regain some fans, and now that he is leading the sequel, this could be as significant a test for Sasko as an opportunity for CDPR to redeem itself on the global stage.

Clearly, a glance at our guide to forthcoming CDPR games demonstrates that Cyberpunk 2 isn’t the only project in development at the studio.