FiringSquad: Single player RPGs have been few and far between lately but there seems to be a resugance in this field with Neverwinter Nights 2, Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion and Gothic 3 all due out this year. Why do you think that single player oriented RPGs have come back into favor?

Gary Keith: As we knew going into The Witcher, there is a very large audience of fans who enjoy the genre. Although the MMO market is the hot topic right now, people still enjoy a solid story-based experience and rich worlds. We ended up going down the single-player route after we broke down the RPG experience we wanted to provide. We wanted to provide a rich and deep story in a non-linear structure. Then we chose to focus on one character as we felt it was the best way to deliver this story-based experience. Finally, our goal is to set a benchmark in PC RPG combat with interesting tactical options and hundreds of animations to bring the real-time combat to life. All those factors led us back to a single-player experience. Oblivion’s recent success shows the strength of the single-player-oriented RPG genre and verifies for us even further that we are headed in the right direction. We think there will always be a small group of developers that will dedicate themselves to this genre in one way or another, and our goal is to be one of them.​