The Witcher series is slowly but surely evolving into something of a beloved pop culture icon. Starting out as a series of novels from Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, the universe was eventually adapted by Polish developer CD Projekt RED into a stunning trilogy of video games.
With a live-action adaptation based on the original novels planned for Netflix at the end of the year – a series that the streaming service apparently believes could be the next Game of Thrones, mind – The Witcher’s complete and utter global dominance is all but guaranteed.
Given the sheer quality of The Witcher games and novels, the people of Poland should be incredibly proud to say that it all started in their home country, in the same way that I love bragging about the fact that we gave the world Doctor Who.
Okay, so Doctor Who was originally conceived by a Canadian, but that’s by the by. Regardless, both Sapkowski and CD Projekt have left an indelible mark on their home country with their work on The Witcher. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in particular, really helped put the franchise on the map, and went on to become one of the most critically-acclaimed games of all time – and rightly so.
In a lovely turn of events, one US-based fan of The Witcher actually went out of their way to thank their local Polish embassy for the fantasy series by leaving a sign outside the building that reads “Thank you Poland for The Witcher.” It’s a sentiment I think we can all get behind.
The US Embassy of Poland, shared the sign on Twitter (via PCGamesN), calling it a “pleasant surprise” and thanking the mysterious sign-leaver. I can’t remember the last time I saw a positive interaction involving a government, so this is lovely to see.
Speaking of appreciative fans leaving touching signs for creators, a group of No Man’s Sky players recently banded together to fund a billboard outside the Hello Games office, thanking them for all their hard work and for sticking with the game after its infamously rocky launch. Oh, and the remaining funds went to a children’s hospital.
If we could all keep our interactions this pure in future, that’d make my job – and our lives in general – a hell of a lot more pleasant. Okay? Okay.
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Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.