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The Witcher School, established by the 5 Elements art and event agency, will soon cease to exist. A few months ago, the Polish studio terminated the contract with the organizers – most likely the reason for the interruption of many years of cooperation is the relationship of one of the employees with the activities of Ordo Iuris.
The Witcher Universe created by Andrzej Sapkowski is undoubtedly a brand with great popularity – its fame was undoubtedly influenced by CD Projekt RED games, and for several years also by the activities of Netflix, which not only develops a series devoted to the adventures of Geralt, but also invests in side productions.
The proposals that drew on the potential of The Witcher included the Witcher School, created by the 5 Elements Artistic and Event Agency under a license issued by a Polish development studio . During various editions of several days of events based on the LARPA theme, participants played the role of heroes of their choice living in a fantastic world. During the events, they took part in archery lessons, survival training and alchemy classes. Under the supervision of qualified personnel, they could hear stories of monsters or battles that took place in the universe.
It turns out, however, that the Witcher School will have to close . As indicated by the Eurogamer website, CD Projekt RED terminated its cooperation with the agency three months ago. Although the reasons seem unclear, it is quite likely that the main one was the connection of one of the company’s employees with Ordo Iuris, a Catholic organization against abortion , which repeatedly presented its homophobic positions and systematically contributed to the deterioration of the reproductive rights of women in Poland.
Ania Wawrzyniak, because we are talking about her, is the wife of the founder of the agency Dastin Wawrzyniak. Recently, while dealing with legal issues in Ordo Iuris, she carried out legal expertises on two topics – the legal mechanisms for introducing and enforcing the vaccination obligation and the possible consequences of failure to comply with it, and a draft law penalizing a woman’s illegal abortion. Although the representatives of 5 Elements emphasize that we are dealing with the private space of their employees, these translations clearly did not appeal to the management of CD Projekt RED, who stopped cooperation with the company. Without a license, the next editions of the Witcher School cannot be organized.
“Unfortunately, this position was not approved by our strategic partner, CD PROJEKT RED, who immediately took away our license to the Witcher School with a three-month termination of the contract. That is why the spring editions of WS, which will take place on the previously announced dates, will be the last editions of our larp. Losses caused by the pandemic and termination of the contract are a burden that will most likely end in bankruptcy of the company, ” we can read in the statement of 5 Elements posted on the social media profile.
Eurogamer journalists contacted the Polish studio and obtained confirmation that further contacts with the agency would not be possible. The game developers presented a number of reasons for the situation, but did not directly address the issue of the Catholic organization.
“In February, we decided to end our cooperation with the organizers of the Witcher School. And now the three-month notice period has ended – confirmed the representative of CD Projekt RED.
It has been known for a long time that a Polish corporation strives to provide the best possible working conditions for its specialists – keeping in mind equality, regardless of gender, sexual orientation or religion. We have repeatedly informed about CD Projekt’s initiatives aimed at supporting women in the gaming industry.
