The Witcher 3 and Motion Capture Sex

The Witcher series is known for having sex, in fact, the first one had you collect trading cards from your encounters. The Witcher 3 also features sex, 16 hours of motion capture sex, to be in fact, as The Guardian has found out.

Why include sex in this game, and in the Witcher 3’s case, open up with it? According to CD Projekt RED, story. Eric imagines the pitch for including sex going down like this:

CEO: Why is there so much sex in this game?

DEV: Story telling.

CEO: How so?

DEV: We don’t think players will believe a man truly cares for a woman unless you see him pounding her repeatedly on screen. I mean C’mon, nobody really thought Cloud loved Aeris.

CEO: Oh, that makes sense.

The opening sex scene in The Witcher 3 is actually between Geralt and Yennefer, the girl you are chasing throughout the game in order to save her from the Wild Hunt. Damien Monhier who is the Senior Game Designer, explains why they included it, and so early in the game, “People might think we’re putting sex into the opening scene for no good reason. No, no, no. We are establishing that your character was intimate with this woman recently in order to plant in your mind that, at very least, he must enjoy her company.”

Sex is becoming all the more common in games and TV shows. The HBO series Game of Thrones, based off the Song of Ice and Fire Series by George R.R. Martin, uses sex frequently. We see it used to show the transformation of Daenerys’ character in the show from being scared of her husband Khal Drogo, to loving him. It remains to be seen how effectively it uses sex to build the story in meaningful ways, but I can see their point. That being said, I can’t imagine what capturing 16 hours of motion capture sex must be like. “Now caress his balls.” “Which ones? He’s covered in tiny white balls?”