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CD Projekt Red Renews The Witcher License | Screen Rant – Screen Rant
The developer behind the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red, and the author responsible for creating The Witcher, Andrezej Sapkowski, have reached a new licensing deal that will see the studio retain rights to keep developing games based on the intellectual property. There’s no question that The Witcher has turned into a major pop culture sensation of sorts, with the license just receiving its very own Netflix series. While reviews on that are mixed, the game franchise holds a special place in the hearts of gamers.
The adventures of Geralt of Rivea are legendary amongst the game-playing public now, to the point that the character was even dubbed worthy enough to join the roster of Soul Calibur 6. Most recently, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt debuted on Xbox Game Pass, much to the delight of gamers subscribed to the service. But there was a lingering question about just how long developer CD Projekt Red would be able to hold onto the license after the franchise’s creator, Andrezej Sapkowski, was outspoken about how unpleased he was with the current deal.
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Evidently, these public statements were eventually led to a resolution in the form of a new deal between CD Projekt Red and Sapkowski – as announced on the developer’s official website. The news broke on December 20th, coinciding with the release of the first season of The Witcher on Netflix, making for a fantastic marketing play. Details on the licensing agreement have been sealed by an embargo, which will also prevent Sapkowski from publically voicing his displeasure with any new deal moving forward. All in all, however, each party appears to be content with the new arrangement.
According to a statement released by President and Join CEO of CD Projekt Red, Adam Kiciński, “we’ve always admired Mr. Andrzej Sapkowski’s works — a great inspiration for the team here at CD PROJEKT RED. I believe today marks a new stage in our continued relationship.” Most importantly, the new deal is said to lay out the framework for future collaborations between the two parties.
It also allegedly builds on CD Projekt Red’s “title to ‘The Witcher’ intellectual property in video games, graphic novels, board games, and merchandise.” Truthfully, it sounds like both sides are walking away for the better. At the very least, here’s hoping this new deal leaves a better taste in the mouth of Sapkowski, although it doesn’t sound as if he’ll be able to talk about it even if it doesn’t.
Source: CD Projekt Red
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Britain is in talks with six companies about building gigafactories to produce batteries for electric vehicles (EV), the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing people briefed on the discussions.
Car makers Ford Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co Ltd, conglomerates LG Corp and Samsung, and start-ups Britishvolt and InoBat Auto are in talks with the British government or local authorities about locations for potential factories and financial support, the report added .
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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EBay will sell its South Korean business to retailer Shinsegae Group and e-commerce firm Naver for about 4 trillion won ($3.6 billion), local newspapers reported on Wednesday.
EBay Korea is the country’s third-largest e-commerce firm with market share of about 12.8% in 2020, according to Euromonitor. It operates the platforms Gmarket, Auction and G9.
Shinsegae, Naver and eBay Korea declined to comment.
Lotte Shopping had also been in the running, the Korea Economic Daily and other newspapers said, citing unnamed investment banking sources.
South Korea represents the world’s fourth largest e-commerce market. Driven by the coronavirus pandemic, e-commerce has soared to account for 35.8% of the retail market in 2020 compared with 28.6% in 2019, according to Euromonitor data.
Shinsegae and Naver formed a retail and e-commerce partnership in March by taking stakes worth 250 billion won in each other’s affiliates.
($1 = 1,117.7000 won)
(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
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Canada is set to begin a hotly anticipated auction of the mobile telecommunications bandwidth necessary for 5G rollout, one that was delayed more than a year by the pandemic.
The 3,500 MHz is a spectrum companies need to provide 5G, which requires more bandwidth to expand internet capabilities.The auction, initially scheduled for June 2020, is expected to take several weeks with Canadian government selling off 1,504 licenses in 172 service areas.
Smaller operators are going into the auction complaining that recent regulatory rulings have further tilted the scales in the favour of the country’s three biggest telecoms companies – BCE, Telus and Rogers Communications Inc – which together control around 90% of the market as a share of revenue.
Canadian mobile and internet consumers, meanwhile, have complained for years that their bills are among the world’s steepest. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has threatened to take action if the providers did not cut bills by 25%.
The last auction of the 600 MHz spectrum raised C$3.5 billion ($2.87 billion) for the government.
The companies have defended themselves, saying the prices they charge are falling.
Some 23 bidders including regional players such as Cogeco and Quebec’s Videotron are participating in the process. Shaw Communications did not apply to participate due to a $16 billion takeover bid from Rogers. Lawmakers and analysts have warned that market concentration will intensify if that acquisition proceeds.
In May, after Canada‘s telecoms regulator issued a ruling largely in favour of the big three on pricing for smaller companies’ access to broadband networks, internet service provider TekSavvy Inc withdrew from the auction, citing the decision.
Some experts say the government has been trying to level the playing field with its decision to set aside a proportion of spectrum in certain areas for smaller companies.
Gregory Taylor, a spectrum expert and associate professor at the University of Calgary, said he was pleased the government was auctioning off smaller geographic areas of coverage.
In previous auctions where the license covered whole provinces, “small providers could not participate because they could not hope to cover the range that was required in the license,” Taylor said.
Smaller geographic areas mean they have a better chance of fulfilling the requirements for the license, such as providing service to 90% of the population within five years of the issuance date.
The auction has no scheduled end date, although the federal ministry in charge of the spectrum auction has said winners would be announced within five days of bidding completion.
($1 = 1.2181 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Moira Warburton in Vancouver; Editing by David Gregorio)
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