Witcher dev: Blocking used sales 'can be a bad thing'

The Witcher developer CD Projekt Red has been vocal about its distaste for digital rights management (DRM). Now the studio is taking another populist gamer stance, saying that rumored plans for the Next Xbox to block the playing of used games "can be a bad thing."

Speaking with Eurogamer, CD Projekt Red managing director Adam Badowski said the studio loses money not due to piracy or used game sales but simply because people decide not to buy its games.

"We should invest more power to upgrade and polish our products and convince players to keep our products, to be with us, to understand our needs," Badowski said. "Because we are an independent developer, we have to prevent layoffs; we need to grow up and have the power to create new games."

As with the DRM issue, CD Projekt Red's attitude toward used game sales may not be widely shared. The design director of Saints Row studio Volition came under fire from numerous gamers earlier this month for saying that a Next Xbox locking out used games would be "fantastic" and cautioning that the industry could "fall apart" if used sales aren't somehow curbed.