It’s a name etched into gaming history: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. But what if Geralt’s magnum opus was known by a different moniker? Recent revelations from CD Projekt Red pull back the curtain on the fascinating, and sometimes precarious, journey to find the perfect title for a game that would redefine the RPG landscape.
For a fleeting moment, the vast, snow-dusted landscapes and monster-filled forests of The Witcher 3 might have been heralded as “The Witcher 3: Northern Lights.” Michal Platkow-Gilewski, CD Projekt Red’s VP of communication and PR, confessed to Eurogamer that this evocative title was a personal favorite. “It never made it into even a logo design but on the whiteboard, for a while, it was there,” he shared. While “Northern Lights” paints a vivid picture, perhaps hinting at the game’s atmospheric beauty and ethereal threats, it ultimately didn’t capture the full essence of the adventure.
Another contender, one that came much closer to becoming reality, was “The Witcher 3: A Time of Axe and Sword.” Platkow-Gilewski revealed this title was, for a time, considered ‘the one.’ So confident were they, that a document was even created formalizing it. However, practicality intervened. “Yes! That’s why it died pretty fast,” he admitted, referring to its rather cumbersome nature. “I remember I created a doc with the final name and that was the final name, and with some colleagues we were betting how long it would last… It didn’t last long.”
The search continued, a crucial process for a studio aiming to broaden its audience significantly. Back in 2013, The Witcher was a respected but still relatively niche series. The first two games had sold a cumulative 5 million copies – a far cry from the staggering 60 million+ The Witcher 3 has now achieved. There was no global Netflix phenomenon to pre-sell the world to newcomers.
This concern over accessibility directly influenced not just the subtitle, but even the main numbering. The “3” in the title was a potential barrier. Would players feel lost if they hadn’t experienced Geralt’s previous adventures? To mitigate this, CD Projekt Red made a bold mid-campaign decision: the Roman numeral “III” or Arabic “3” was replaced with the iconic three claw-like slash marks, inspired by Eredin’s helmet. “We decided, in the middle of the campaign… that we should turn the three into these marks,” Platkow-Gilewski explained.
Then, they struck gold: “Wild Hunt.”
This subtitle resonated on multiple levels. For those familiar with Andrzej Sapkowski’s lore, it was a direct, powerful nod to the spectral antagonists relentlessly pursuing Ciri. For newcomers, “Wild Hunt” was inherently intriguing, conjuring images of primal danger, epic chases, and a vast, untamed world. It was concise, memorable, and perfectly encapsulated the game’s central conflict and atmosphere.
Ten years on, it’s hard to imagine “The Witcher 3” as anything but “Wild Hunt.” The name has become synonymous with groundbreaking open-world design, rich storytelling, and unforgettable characters. While “Northern Lights” or “A Time of Axe and Sword” offer tantalizing glimpses into alternate branding, “Wild Hunt” proved to be the masterstroke that helped launch a beloved RPG into global superstardom.
As CD Projekt Red now looks towards a new saga, tentatively known as The Witcher 4, which will see Ciri step into the protagonist role, the legacy of thoughtful naming and strategic branding established with “Wild Hunt” will undoubtedly continue to shape their approach. The journey to a name is more than just words; it’s about identity, accessibility, and capturing the soul of an epic.
