CDP - sex and violence in games works if part of the world and not overused

News by Stephany Nunneley-Jackson News Editor

Published on June 21, 2012

CD Projekt RED CEO Marcin Iwinski has said there is nothing wrong with games including sex and violence as long as it's part of the world and not overused.

Speaking with RPS, Iwinski used the studio's Witcher franchise and George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones as two such examples where such hot-button topics "fit" in the medieval, male-dominated story.

"You have to look at it from the quality of the product perspective," he said. "If it’s overused [in marketing], it probably won’t be a big product anyway. Really, I think the market is eliminating all the weaknesses and all the cheap tricks. But, at the end of the day, males are making certain decisions through hormones. People are paid to take care of the market and know it very well. Am I offended in some of these cases? Sure.

"And when people don’t do [these sorts of things] well, it’s obvious and there’s a lot of criticism around it. But you really have to look at it on a product-by-product basis. And then it really depends on somebody’s taste. So with Witcher, we’re not a Dungeons and Dragons where kissing is prohibited. We’re not Barbie world. Game of Thrones is a testament to that. Where sex makes sense, put it there. Because that’s how it was during the Medieval times, and that’s how it is today."

Iwinski said with both The Witcher series and Game of Thrones, it's all about "power, politics, and sex," so the subject matter fits. While some of this can be overused, such as at E3 this year, Iwinski feels if it's part of the game and presented as such, it's not "necessarily a problem."

"I think it will always happen as long as a part of your audience is male," he said. "The cheapest trick is to grab a fancy car and put a booth babe next to it. So yes, it’s there. I don’t think having a presentation where it’s a major part of a game is necessarily a problem. It makes sense, because the game is defending itself. So it’s just a part of the world.

"Some people will overuse it. Others won’t."