The Witcher author says he's never played the games that cemented his fame: "I have no time for this, and it's not entertainment for me"
Andrezj Sapkowski is no gamer
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Everything I've read about the author does not paint him in a positive light. He seems crochety
From what I understand CDPR purchased the licensing for the Witcher IP a long time ago. At the time the Witcher was not popular outside of Poland so they didn’t have to pay very much. Since then they made the series really popular and the English translation brought it to a much wider market. So he felt like he wasn’t fairly compensated for his IP.
I think they’ve reached new agreements since then but it wasn’t easy for either party to reach agreement.
He was given the option of either a lump sum or a percentage of game sales. He thought video games were a passing fad and took the lump sum. Then he got pissed because the games were super successful.
they've probably earned him more than a couple of dollars, too, just from people wanting to read the source material.
and I doubt there would have been a Netflix series without the games.
Exactly, which is why I don’t understand disliking the games and being salty over a poor financial choice. Especially after CDPR gave him extra money after the success of the series
Yes, he is definitely salty about not taking the royalties and being made to look a fool because he chose poorly. I think he is also extremely salty that the thing he thought would amount to much is 1000x more successful than his own creation. His books are more successful now thanks to the games, but that's just pouring salt in the wound for him.
In like 2005 haha when it was obvious video games were certainly not just a passing fad.
Him being crochety about video games is why he didn't negotiate for royalties. And after realizing his mistake... He's still crochety about video games :/
He has been "the author" in polish fiction for decades and he didn't handle it well. I met him about 20 years ago and he's already been a douche back then.