Nah its not out of the goodness of there hearts don't worry about that.
CD Projekt was the first publisher in Poland to release games on CD-ROM, and dominated the market especially with Western RPG's. But they have grown to be quite the juggernaut of Eastern Europe, they understand the market very well there it seems, and without outside investors, loans nor going public they are just printing money for themselves.
In 2002, CD Projekt got enough capital to form its first Developer studio with about 15 staff members. They expanded there team to roughly 80 people now and back in 2006 started recruiting heavily for experienced Xbox 360 developers. They are currently working on three new titles, and no doubt some of them will be on the Xbox 360.
CD Projekt is launching its own DRM free version of steam, but focusing on classic games, called Good Old Games but is having trouble recruiting mainstream publishers;
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/cd-projekt-launches-games-on-demand-platformAfter the Witcher sold 700,000 copies in its first three months, CD Projekt knew that they were onto a winner so decided to Re-release The Witcher. People who bought the original can get the free upgrade, but the new boxed Enhanced edition comes with a making of DVD, a CD with 29 in-game soundtracks, another CD with "Inspired by" music, the short story The Witcher from the book The Last Wish, a map of Temeria printed on high quality paper, and the official strategy guide.
So its not quite for nothing, many people who bought the original will rebuy this one. The original game has sold well over a million units, and they are banking on the Witcher as a platform.
They are introducing spin off games from the Witcher like the Witcher: Versus an online battle mode game based in the Witcher where people do PVP and are introducing paid downloadable content for the game. Im not exactly sure what to make of it;
Later this year, developer one2tribe will add premium content to further enrich the deep gameplay of The Witcher: Versus, based on the hit PC RPG from CD Projekt RED and the wildly popular fantasy books from Andrzej Sapkowski. To avoid riots and hate mail, one2tribe reassures cash-strapped gamers around the world that they will not be shafted by this new content, as those who indulge in premium content will not gain an advantage within the game. The core gameplay of The Witcher: Versus will remain free of charge, and will continue to evolve in parallel in the coming months.
Premium content will be added gradually; the first premium access package will contain new features intended to ease account and character management; they include a rucksack for items that are not currently equipped, a history of fights against a certain player (for ultimate bragging rights), as well as a private duels archive. The designers will reveal additional details over the next few months.
Future changes in The Witcher: Versus will not focus on premium content only, and will serve to make the free-to-play game even more enticing; leagues, tournaments, challenges, a full-featured RPG world and much more will begin to find their way into The Witcher: Versus in the later part of the year.
Clearly they didnt have the manpower to focus on this content themself, and have there hands full with the three new projects they are working on. I expect one will be cancelled though. 80 people can not build three concurrent projects, on top of the localisation business and on-line distribution business.
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