The Witcher producer says "painful" simplification of the books' story is necessary for wider audiences

03.08.2023 - 14:35 / gamesradar.com / Andrzej Sapkowski

The Witcher producer Tomasz Bagiński has reacted to the ongoing backlash that the Netflix series has faced for changing details from its source material. As many will be aware, the show is based on Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski’s series of books. While it broadly follows these, some elements have been changed, which has been a source of ire from some fans.

However, Bagiński has now opened up about the reasoning behind this – and it’s an unusual excuse, to say the least. In an interview with Wyborcza (via Redanian Intelligence), he shared that it was all about making things simpler for the wider audiences who consume Netflix shows.

"I had the same perceptual block when I presented Hardkor 44 [a never-made variation on the Warsaw Uprising] abroad years ago and tried to explain: there was an uprising against Germany, but the Russians were across the river, and on the German side there were also soldiers from Hungary or Ukraine," he told the publication when asked about the changes. "For Americans, it was completely incomprehensible, too complicated, because they grew up in a different historical context, where everything was arranged: America is always good, the rest are the bad guys. And there are no complications.

"When a series is made for a huge mass of viewers, with different experiences, from different parts of the world, and a large part of them are Americans, these simplifications not only make sense, they are necessary. It’s painful for us, and for me too, but the higher level of nuance and complexity will have a smaller range, it won’t reach people. Sometimes it may go too far, but we have to make these decisions and accept them."

This isn’t the first time that Bagiński has called out audiences either. In another interview from December 2021 with the YouTube channel Imponderabilia after The Witcher season 2 aired, the producer shared that people who grew up with TikTok and YouTube have shorter attention spans.

"When it comes to shows, the younger the public is, the logic of the plot is less significant," he said, adding that was is now significant for them is, "Just emotions. Just pure emotions. A bare emotional mix. Those people grew up on TikTok and YouTube, they jump from video to video." Bagiński added: "Dear children, what you do to yourself makes you less resilient for longer content, for long and complicated chains of cause and effect."

Whatever you think of Bagiński’s comments on the simplifying plots, it’s part of a bigger conversation happening about The Witcher. Another writer recently took to social media to share their defense of season 3 as well.

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