Witcher fans lash out at mod toolkit, say they were promised more

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt revealed its plans for mod support this week but diehard fans are peeved because it's not the mod support some said they were promised.

What The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt got yesterday is called Modkit, which allows users to manipulate "the looks and feels of in-game objects," while mesh substitutes let them put new models into the world. Scripting tools let modders "fiddle with item statistics and much more."

In the announcement yesterday, CD Projekt Red, the game's developer, acknowledged "the modding tools we are releasing are not an editor. They're meant for people who are somewhat experienced with modding software and are designed to make creating mods easier."

What modders were expecting was a version of Redkit, the modding suite they've been using with The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, which launched 2011. Asked if Redkit was on the way after Modkit, CD Projekt RED community manager Marcin Momot broke the bad news on Twitter:

@MeerMusik This is the mod support for the Wild Hunt. At this moment we are not planning to release anything else.

— Marcin Momot (@Marcin360) August 14, 2015

One user pointed out that Marcin Iwinski, the CD Projekt CEO, referred to Redkit by name in an IGN interview in January 2014, saying the studio looked to release a Redkit for The Witcher 3 "sometime after the game launches." Back in May of this year, Iwinski said mod support for the game was coming, but notably did not call it Redkit. Everyone just assumed that's what he was talking about, and evidently something changed between January 2014 and now.

Witcher fans didn't take the news well.

@Marcin360 @MeerMusik How many more promised you will broke? You promised Redkit, was one of the reason i bought your buggy game.

— Pedro Gomes (@PedroGomes89) August 15, 2015

@Marcin360 "we are looking to release the REDkit sometime after the game launches for the modding community." ..... God damn it.

— Nicholas Draeger (@NicholasDraeger) August 14, 2015

This isn't mod support, this is just a more automated way of doing things we could already hack in. For shame, guys. @Marcin360 @MeerMusik

— Liam (@mulletalchemist) August 14, 2015

@Marcin360 @MeerMusik Still no FOV adjustment and now you cancel the editor you promised. Misstep after misstep.

— MangoTangoFox (@MangoTangoFox) August 14, 2015

@Marcin360 @MeerMusik I've been singing this game's praises, but this is like a kick in the nuts to the community. I'm really disappointed.

— FearTheCalm (@FearTheCalm) August 14, 2015

@Marcin360 @MeerMusik liars. I'll never buy a game from u guys ever again, dont promise things if u cant make them happen.

— hryniel (@hrynielTV) August 14, 2015

@Marcin360 I was one of those who fiercely defended CDP during downgrade madness, but this is giving me a hard time now

— Blameless75 (@Blameless75) August 15, 2015

In a nutshell, Redkit is more fully featured than what Modkit offers, in addition to Redkit being more familiar to hardcore Witcher fans. But as Momot mentioned, there are no plans to bring that to The Witcher 3.

For more on the game, which is also available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, be sure to read Polygon's review of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and watch our Overview video below to see it in action.