CD Projekt RED has become a well respected industry giant over the last decade. This is primarily due to the success of the Witcher franchise, but they were not the first studio to attempt to bring Geralt of Rivia to the digital world. In the mid 1990’s a studio by the name of Metropolis (which was headed by Bulletstorm‘s Adrian Chmielarz) tried and ultimately failed at the first Witcher game attempt. Previously, it was believed that the only remnants of this terminated project were a few screenshots used for gaming magazines during production. Over twenty years later, actual gameplay footage has surfaced, giving fans a look at what the Witcher could have been.

Kacper Reutt and Jarek Sobierski are two members of the original Metropolis team that were tasked to work on the first Witcher game (attempt) ever. In a recent interview on YouTube channel arhn.eu, the former teammates revealed that they still had the tech demo source code for the game saved on an old hard drive. After tinkering with some emulations to get the original program to run the code, the duo have been able to present gameplay footage of the Witcher game that never was.

Due to the emulation process, the footage won’t look as good as it would have on a top-of-the-line gaming rig of the 90’s, but as Sobierski says, “at least you can see it works.”  As you will see in the video below, Geralt was rocking an overwhelmingly purple suit, and only brandishes a single sword. Be warned, extreme 90’s graphics will be seen. Check it out for yourself (note: be sure to turn on subtitles):

It appears that Metropolis’ first Witcher game attempt fell apart sometime after Kacper Reutt and Jarek Sobierski left. Speaking on their separation from the company, the “lost” footage, and the game, Sobierski states:

To be honest I don’t know why they don’t have any of the data. I still have it back from the time we worked on this, mostly from home. And I just never deleted it after leaving the company

Also, once we left Adrian’s company, and we both left at the same time, I think the whole project collapsed. I don’t remember any information about it being continued. I remember that it was supposed to be suspended, as it turned out it would take at least an extra year or more, before it can ever be released, and the company needed to stay afloat.”

The world that Andrzej Sapkowski created in his books has been sought after for the video game industry since the 90’s. If Metropolis would have been able to complete their game, we may never have had the chance to experience the award-winning and critically acclaimed Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Likewise, fans would have never been introduced to the addicting trading card game, Gwent. So while the idea of a 90’s Witcher video game has some nostalgic inclinations, we, the fans, are grateful for the other little Polish studio that brought Geralt to life, CD Projekt RED.

What do you think of the first Witcher game attempt? Do you think the franchise would be nearly as successful as it is today if Metropolis would’ve completed the title? What are your thoughts on Geralt’s purple tights? Let us know in the comments section below. As always, be sure to follow DFTG on Twitter to stay up to date on the hottest news in gaming and entertainment via our 24/7 live feed.