Artur Ganszyniec, the lead story designer of the original Witcher RPG, recently completed a full playthrough of the game he contributed to nearly 20 years ago, which was broadcast across 26 separate episodes on YouTube. At the end of it all, he revealed an intriguing tidbit of information: the game’s unexpected and dramatic ending was not actually what the story team had envisioned, and he believes it was a “mistake.”

“That’s where we wanted the game to end, like with an open question and open future,” Ganszyniec reflects as the game’s final montage plays. “But while we were finishing the game, someone decided—like the board decided, or [CD Projekt co-founder Michał Kiciński] decided that we needed an animated outro of the game.”

The anticipated ending sees Geralt of Rivia collect his payment from King Foltest and prepare to leave, but trouble arises! The would-be assassin contributing to this twist is revealed to be another witcher, effectively setting the stage for a sequel. However, while management at CD Projekt might have had future games in mind, the story team felt unprepared to follow that path.

Ganszyniec elaborates, “This outro forced the sequel’s narrative into a storyline about witchers involved in political turmoil. It didn’t leave room for exploring more about Geralt, his family, and his history.”

Despite any reservations Ganszyniec expresses, the success of the sequel wasn’t arguable; by January 2026, The Witcher 2 had sold over 15 million copies, playing a critical role in establishing CD Projekt as one of Europe’s major game developers.