Oops! Witcher Schools Are a 'Mistake,' Says Sapkowski – But Game Devs 'Clung On' Anyway!

AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer · Wed Oct 01 2025

Andrzej Sapkowski, *The Witcher* author, has revealed that the beloved Witcher schools from the games were actually based on a single, regrettable sentence in his first novel, leading to a clash between creator intent and fan-driven adaptation as *The Witcher 4* looms.

Right, so picture this: you're casually flipping through an old spellbook, trying to whip up a simple healing potion, and you accidentally summon a small, grumpy dragon. That's kinda how I feel about the latest revelation from Andrzej Sapkowski, the wizard behind *The Witcher* saga. He's gone and dropped a lore bomb that's got everyone scratching their heads – turns out, those iconic Witcher schools we all know and love from the games? Yeah, they were basically a typo.

According to Sapkowski, during a recent Reddit AMA (a digital séance, if you will), someone poked him about the myriad of Witcher schools like the Wolf, the Cat, the Griffin – all that good stuff we've internalised. And mate, he practically snorted. He reckons it all stems from a single, solitary sentence in *The Last Wish*, his very first Witcher book. A lone mention of a 'school of the Wolf' that he later decided was 'unworthy of development and narratively incorrect, even detrimental to the plot.' Bloody hell! He says he never touched on Gryffindors or Slytherins of the Witcher world ever again in his subsequent books. Never!

But here's where the plot thickens, like a particularly potent cauldron brew. That one little sentence? 'Adaptors, particularly video game people,' he says, 'have clung to the idea with remarkable tenacity and have wonderfully multiplied these "witcher schools". Completely unnecessary.' You can almost hear the exasperation in his digital voice, can't you? It’s like discovering the secret ingredient to your favourite family recipe was just the cook accidentally dropping a whole block of cheese in the pot, and everyone loved it so much they kept doing it.

And the best bit? He's actually considering *removing* that offending sentence from future editions of *The Last Wish*. Or, alternatively, he might 'expand and clarify the matter somehow in subsequent books,' maybe even shed some light on the medallions. The sky's the limit, apparently. It's a bit like a developer trying to patch a legacy bug that's somehow become a beloved feature – do you remove it and risk alienating the players, or do you double down and try to make it canonical?

Now, this gets particularly spicy when you think about *The Witcher 4*. Remember that first tease? A picture of a medallion. Later confirmed as a lynx medallion. Everyone, myself included, immediately jumped to 'new Witcher school, probably Ciri's adventure with the School of the Lynx!' Fair dinkum, we did. Because that's what the games taught us. It's core lore in the gaming universe. To have the original author declare the very foundation of that lore a 'mistake' is... well, it's a bit of an existential crisis for the fandom, isn't it? It's like finding out Gandalf's staff was just a really nice walking stick and he used it for dramatic flair.

But Sapkowski wasn't done stirring the pot. He also shared his thoughts on adaptations in general, and mate, he believes they are 'inherently inferior.' Ouch. He reckons there are 'no dependencies or points of convergence' between the original and its adaptation. The original stands alone, the adaptation stands alone. And then he goes for the jugular, stating that 'there is no need to prove the superiority of the written word over images, it is obvious. The written word always and decidedly triumphs over images, and no picture - animated or otherwise - can match the power of the written word.' Bloody hell, talk about a mic drop! It’s like a purist wizard insisting that the true magic only exists in ancient scrolls, not in the flashy, interactive spells you're casting with your wand.

Now, as someone who spends most of their time wading through digital realms and celebrating the incredible interactive narratives games weave, I've got to gently, respectfully, raise an eyebrow at that last bit. While the written word is undeniably powerful – it builds worlds in our minds, right? – games, and even TV shows, bring their own unique brand of magic to the table. They let us *experience* those worlds, inhabit those characters, make choices that resonate. They add layers of sound, sight, and most importantly, player agency, that a book simply can't. It's not about superiority, is it? It's about different forms of storytelling, each with their own strengths. A book can paint a picture, but a game lets you walk inside it. Isn't that just a different, equally valid kind of triumph?

This whole kerfuffle is a fascinating peek behind the curtain of creative control and intellectual property. When an author creates a universe, and then other brilliant minds adapt it, where does the 'canon' truly reside for the audience? For millions of gamers, CD Projekt Red's interpretation *is* The Witcher. The schools, the monster-slaying contracts, the moral grey areas – they're all intrinsically linked to our digital adventures. Sapkowski's original vision is paramount, of course, but adaptations take on a life of their own, becoming beloved entities in their own right. It's a messy, wonderful, chaotic process.

Oh, and for those wondering, Sapkowski isn't much for listening to 'Toss a Coin to Your Witcher' (not 'particularly susceptible to songs,' apparently), and his favourite dinosaur is a Pterodactyl. Because, of course, it is. A flying reptile, majestic and free – perhaps a metaphor for his fiercely independent creative spirit? Or maybe he just thinks they're cool, which is fair enough.

So, as we eagerly await more news on *The Witcher 4* – remember that tech demo at State of Unreal? Beautiful, but not indicative of the final game, the devs wisely reminded us – we're left with a bit of a quandary. Will CDPR double down on the 'mistake' and embrace the School of the Lynx, or will Sapkowski's potential lore retcons force a narrative pivot? Only time, and perhaps a new chapter in the ongoing saga of authorial intent versus fan-fuelled adaptation, will tell. Either way, it's going to be wild. And I, for one, can't wait to see what unexpected magical mishap unfolds next.

Tags: TheWitcher, GamingLore, CDProjektRed, GameDevelopment, AuthorialIntent

Original article: Eurogamer