Returning to the painful topic of Ukrainian localization of video games and the scandal surrounding the next-gen version of the popular game “The Witcher 3” by the Polish studio CD Projekt RED, which was released today on PC Xbox Series X|S and PS5, it is simply impossible to pass by one video that was released last night on official YouTube channel “The Witcher”. We are talking about a cover (more precisely, a music video) of the Ukrainian song “Priscilla’s Song” performed by a resident of Rivne Olena Androsova, better known as “Eileen”.

This music video is the result of a collaboration between CD Projekt RED and YouTuber Eileen, who gained popularity with her covers of various musical compositions, such as “Throw money to the Witcher”, “Schedrik”, “Oh in the meadow red viburnum” and others. The clip turned out to be very colorful and authentic – it was filmed in Rivne, Eileen’s hometown, and more precisely in the historical reconstruction park “Ostvytsia”, which recreates the atmosphere of the Kievan Rus era of the 9th-13th centuries. Eileen, along with other covers of The Wolven Storm and several more soundtracks from the game in various languages ​​(you can listen to them on the YouTube channel of “The Witcher” at the link) – of course, as part of the advertising campaign for the updated version of the game.

The Wolven Storm – cover of Eileen in Ukrainian

The Wolven Storm – in the original Polish (scene from the game “The Witcher 3”)

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Previously, “Priscilla’s song” received many covers, including an earlier version performed by Eileen, and it is likely that the updated version of The Witcher 3 will contribute to the appearance of several more new ones, and not only on Wolven Storm.

Regarding the Ukrainian localization in future CDPR games and the improved Russian localization of the next-gen version of the third “Witcher”, which outraged many Ukrainians, the studio provided a comprehensive comment to the GameDev DOU editors. CDPR explained that they finished development of the next-gen version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt as early as 2021 – before a full-scale war. At the same time, CDPR confirmed that it has been working on the Ukrainian localization of the game for some time (we have no doubt that many already have guesses), but so far the studio is not ready to share details. It can also be mentioned that CDPR immediately stopped cooperation with any Russian companies, blocked the sale of games in Russia and supported Ukraine all the time. And the company’s position on this issue remains unchanged.

We also recommend watching the official video, which contains a concise retelling of the events leading up to the third “The Witcher”, especially missed by the previous games. The current rating of the next-gen version of “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt” on the aggregator Metacritic is 97 points out of 100 – this is the average rating of critics based on 15 reviews.