Walking the Path With Nerial and Devolver Digital to Create Reigns: The Witcher
Though Geralt of Rivia approached the rock troll sword drawn, his guard was lowered by her melancholy; life under the bridge just didn’t do it for her anymore. Understanding well the desire to walk a different path, the witcher encouraged the rock troll to head out into the world — and from then on saw her on his own travels. Maybe she’s performing as a fire breather in Novigrad, or working as a spy for the Codringher and Fenn law firm.
As Narrative Designer, this is one of Oscar Harrington-Shaw’s favorite stories in Reigns: The Witcher — a story-led swipe ‘em up game from developer Nerial, Devolver Digital, and us at CD PROJEKT RED.
Available now for PC, Mac, iOS, and Android, players can adventure as Geralt through the exaggerated and often scandalous ballads of Dandelion the bard, navigating a moral maze of adventures, slaying monsters, and choosing who to help by swiping left and right.
“This rock troll story allowed us, through the player's choices, to balance Geralt's ability to use action and violence with his more inquisitive side,” Oscar says. “It also draws on the theme of Geralt as an outsider, as he can see himself in this rock troll, who is monstrous but also sentient and can play a positive role in other people's lives.”
Oscar used The Witcher video game series as inspiration plenty of times while creating stories for Reigns: The Witcher. “I only had to launch one of CD PROJEKT RED’s games and I immediately had 50 more ideas,” he says. “This is also where working with CD PROJEKT RED was so helpful. All of these cards were written with their writers and lore masters, to ensure the tone and content really aligns with The Witcher universe."
For our Franchise & Lore Designer Cian Maher, looking toward lighter moments in the world of The Witcher was important when bringing its tone and atmosphere over to Reigns — but he says this provides something special for players too. “The Witcher is known all over the world for the fact that it is gritty, grounded, and emotionally credible,” he says.
All of these cards were written with their writers and loremasters, to ensure the tone and content really aligns with The Witcher universe.
“It is not an easy world to inhabit, monsters abound, farmsteads ravaged by soldiers on the march, and unassailable threats ranging from plague to unwavering hatred. But The Witcher also exudes color, and warmth, and purpose, and we can see this in plenty of places in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.”
Cian points to No Place Like Home, when Geralt and his witcher buddies get drunk in Kaer Morhen, or the quiet, honest conversation between Geralt and Yennefer at the end of The Last Wish.
"Reigns is capable of grappling with that color and warmth in a whimsical yet impactful way,” Cian continues. “It offers those who enjoy the less grave aspects of The Witcher a space in which they can entertain the many counterfactuals of sober and otherwise fixed stories, where favorite characters can take on new life and Geralt can exchange his silver sword for oven mitts.”
Our collaboration didn’t stop with lore, though. Our teams worked closely together throughout the entire process to make sure Reigns: The Witcher was as fun and interesting for players as possible. Each side learned from each other as we worked together to create the game, and it’s through one of our regular discussions that the core plotline arrived.
“Initially we tried to stay away from the core Witcher games with a loop centered around a random witcher school,” says François Alliot, Creative Director at Nerial, “but following a meeting with CD PROJEKT RED, it was clear the game would feel weaker if we didn’t focus on Geralt.
“From this discussion emerged the idea of telling the tales of Geralt as Dandelion would sing them, which was a great way to create space for the game to extrapolate on The Witcher games while staying true to its core characters, tone, and humor. This sort of progress was only possible because we had these regular discussions with the CD PROJEKT RED team.”
Reigns is capable of grappling with that color and warmth in a whimsical yet impactful way.
The partnership was equally appreciated on our side, as our Senior Brand Manager Aliona Valcheuskaya points out. “Our collaboration with Nerial and Devolver Digital was genuinely close and very hands-on,” she says. “From the beginning, there was a shared understanding that we wanted to make something that truly respected The Witcher universe while embracing the distinct tone and charm of Reigns.”
It’s this level of connection and synergy we look to create in all our collaborations, which is why selecting partners who share our values is so important. Reigns and The Witcher are also a wonderful — if not unconventional — fit, Aliona says.
“One of the core elements of The Witcher franchise, and of our games in general, is mature storytelling driven by meaningful choices and their consequences. There’s a particular thrill in navigating moral dilemmas and deciding how to act in situations where there are no easy answers.
“The Reigns series is built around a similar foundation; its core gameplay is all about making choices and facing their immediate consequences. While it represents a completely different genre from what our players might be used to, Reigns: The Witcher offers a fresh way to experience the kinds of side stories Geralt might have encountered on his journey (or perhaps only in Dandelion’s vivid imagination),” Aliona continues.
“It presents them in a faster-paced, more lighthearted format, allowing players to discover and immerse themselves in the world of The Witcher through bite-sized narrative encounters that might be funny, tricky, morally messy, or just delightfully absurd.”
