All companies try to maximize profits, and CDprojekt should be no different.

I think being 'gamer friendly' is a mask(not in a negative sense) used by CDprojekt to bolster their PR and in turn, sale. Software piracy is rampant in Eastern Europe and if you can't stop piracy, lay a strong guilt trip on pirates by showing example that stands out among greedy game companies; regardless of intentions, this is great for both gamers and CDprojekt until other companies follow suit.

That said, I'm still dubious if the lower price will booster their revenue. As I've pointed out, TW3 has narrower target market compared to some of other AAA RPGs, a great number of loyal fans, and it already has extensive publicity. I'm pretty sure many of you would have bought the game even if it were priced at the same price as Skyrim or Dragon Age Inquisition at their release because I believe TW3 will be greater than either of those games and I definitely would. This must also involve a decision regarding company's PR, and I'm curious as to how much weighing was done between profitability and future sales boost and other intangible profits.

I'm no expert on the subject and I just found their price policy refreshing, if not worrisome as I hope CDprojekt fares well in the future.

Read my explanation again. Their business models are different, thus "maximizing profit" for GOG means being more gamer friendly.

Also, GOG's business figures are publicly available and they are doing quite well indeed. Increasingly well, in fact.

As I've repeatedly stated, it's not a problem but rather a curiosity, and a concern because I am worried CDprojekt, the most gamer friendly game developers as of now, would not make enough profits they could invest to making bigger games in the future. Some of you know CDprojekt almost went bankrupt after TW1 when they tried to port TW1 to PS2.
Did you only read my first sentence? You really should read on before telling others to re-read. My very next sentence after the one you quoted states that CDprojekt's 'gamer friendly' model is used to bolster their PR and in turn, sale. I agreed with your assertion that they have to act as such to be successful. You shouldn't quote my preface to refute my whole argument because my argument was different from what you hastily surmised.

I am not disputing benefits of no DRM policy or other business models adopted by GOG. I'm simply wondering how much profits or loss lowering the price of AAA titles such as TW3 would result in since it's somewhat a rare case in gaming industry.

I'd never buy a game for $70 anymore, seriously. Not even Canadian $.
Maybe this was somehow justifiable with SNES cartridges and the whole regional distribution apparatus in the 90s but today it's just greed or bad financial management (or good PR if people are actually paying so much).

That's the point though. what they are doing is not something to worry about, it is something to celebrate because it is brilliant and effective way of doing business in what is a very difficult market to crack. It's not like they have a bunch of idiots in their business office saying "let's sell these games at a loss, just so we can hopefully get enough customers for their next game... d'oh, we forgot to make some money of the last one, now we can't make another!" They are definitely smarter than that.

fair enough

wrong topic

They really are. I will never pay full price for a AAA game. Ever. And I don't think most people should either. Unless you have something invested in owning a game when it first releases, it's just not worth it. MOST.Every. Single. AAA. Game has been coming out with game breaking bugs or shoddy connection issues on the first day of release.

There are probably a large number of factors at play. So far, no one has mentioned that TW3 is being developed in Poland, which means their local economic factors can be quite different from EA in California. Additionally, as a general rule, the larger the corporation, the more bloated its hierarchy. If it costs CDPR less to produce their game, then they can sell it for less and still get the same dollar amount of return.

Don't worry friend! You buy at 43 dallarz, but we buy at 43 euroz, instead! Regional prices usually make exquisite surplus!

And don't forget the SEASON PASS, son! Previous witcher games gave away all extra content to come out at a later date, for free, not this one, though!

Someone buying a complete Witcher 3 package here, pays 69 euroz. Is this cheap, or a "normal" price, for a brand new title?

The preorder is still active with a 20% discount as it was before. Put the game in your cart and head to the checkout and you'll see a 20% discount if you have the first two games. They don't test for this on the front page advertisement presumably because the website has been fairly pounded the last few days and when the servers are busy, they generally disable certain things on the homepage such as checking your account to see if you own a game already to display "owned" or similar, so you'll see a higher price advertised on the homepage.

I think some of the prices of games out there are prices in the stratosphere at times but I haven't bought a new game for full price since 2006 either. The Witcher 3 is the first game since 2006 that has me even wanting to buy it sooner than later, and the biggest part of that is that I hold both CDPR and GOG.com in high esteem and feel a certain amount of customer loyalty that I don't know if I've ever felt towards a game company before, so I'm still contemplating buying it in the next few weeks leading up to the release as it is only $37.59 CAD which is a nice pre-discount.

The most I've spent on any other single game since 2006 I think was buying ArmA 2 from GOG for $8.50 or so a few years ago, then I think either X-Wing or TIE Fighter for $4.99 not long ago (I forget which... the other was a gift). There might be one more game that I spent around $5 but I can't recall for sure. The entire rest of all my GOG+Steam+wherever games that I've bought in the last 3+ years were no more than $3 per game whether standalone or in a collection or bundle, with many being under $2 or even under $1.

With close to 1000 games and endless entertainment, a game literally has to move me in some way to consider spending more than $5 on it and waiting for it to hit that price. TW3 makes me feel that way, but it is a rare feeling to say the least! ;)

99.999% of all new games coming out no matter how amazing they are, I'm likely to just wishlist and wait 6/12/18/24 months for it to end up $3 wherever, as I'm rarely in a huge rush to play them even if they're cool/awesome/amazing. Saves a lot of money, as well as a log of potential disappointment at times too. :)

If the price is 60$ people complain
If the price is cheaper people complain

From where I'm at:

Witcher 3 on Steam is 49.99e with preorder (normal price is 59.99e).
Witcher 3 on GOG is 49.79e with preorder and 43.79e because I own TW1 and TW2 (normal price is 59.99e).

Sometimes it feels like some people complain for the sake of complaining, the game's normal price is the same as other games. If CDPR is in financial trouble they wouldn't delay the game for so long.