The Witcher 3 Dev Tested Bloody Ice Skating Feature, But Decided To Cut It

Polish developer CD Projekt Red tested a violent-sounding ice skating battle feature for upcoming open-world role-playing game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but this was ultimately cut for the final game.

Game designer Damien Monnier said this weekend during a PAX East panel that, "At some point we had the idea of ice skating." He later corrected himself, saying, "It was more than an idea--it was actually a prototype. You were going to ice skate and fight."

Players would be able to control Geralt, apparently seeking to become a more violent version of Wayne Gretzky, by using the left and right triggers of the controller to manipulate his left and right legs.

Like the rest of The Witcher 3, the ice skating portions were going to be bloody and violent, but also beautiful in a way, Monnier said.

"You could slice heads and the blood goes on the ice and it's beautiful, and you're so fast as well. I really liked it," he said.

Ultimately, this feature--which would have shown up at the end of the game, Monnier said--was cut. The panel host, Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb, joked that CD Projekt Red could release the ice skating feature as DLC down the road, which drew applause and laughter for the crowd.

CD Projekt Red does have plans to support The Witcher 3 with loads of free DLC, but it sounds like ice skating won't be part of it.

Also at PAX East this weekend, CD Projekt Red said it has no plans to re-release The Witcher or The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. A new gameplay trailer, which you can watch above, was also released at the show.

After two delays, The Witcher 3 launches May 19 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.