Reception of Intertextuality and Cultural References in The Witcher 3: An Analysis of Player Typologies and Cultural Competence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18778/2391-8551.13.05Keywords:
intertextuality, video games, The Witcher 3, cultural competence, player typologyAbstract
This paper explores the reception of intertextuality in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, approached as a cultural text with high semantic and narrative potential. Drawing on the results of an online survey conducted among 200 players, the study investigates how audiences recognize, interpret, and respond to cultural references embedded in the game. The analysis takes into account factors such as cultural competence, play style, reception-related motivations, and players’ self-assessment of their intertextual experience. As a result, five distinct player types were identified—analytical, intuitive, explorer, immersive, and pragmatic—each demonstrating significant differences in their engagement with the game’s intertextual layer. The findings confirm that The Witcher 3 serves not only aesthetic and entertainment purposes but also plays a cultural and educational role, encouraging many players to explore other cultural texts and enhance their interpretive competencies.
References
Aarseth, E. (1997). Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature. Johns Hopkins University Press. https://doi.org/10.56021/9780801855788
Aarseth, E. (2012). A narrative theory of games. W: Proceedings of the International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (s. 129–133). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/2282338.2282365
Aktürk, M. (2022). Exploring translation strategies in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt [praca magisterska, Uniwersytet Bilgi w Istambule].
Al-Batineh, M. (2023). The localization of food- and drink-related items in video games: The case of The Witcher 3 in Arabic. Digital Translation, 10(1), 37–57. https://doi.org/10.1075/dt.22011.alb
Aroni, G. (2019). The Semiosis of Architectural Identity in The Witcher 3. Journal of Media Research – Revista de Studii Media, 12(35), 47–59. https://doi.org/10.24193/jmr.35.4
Bachtin, M. (1970). Problemy poetyki Dostojewskiego (przeł. N. Modzelewska). Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy.
Barthes, R. (1977). Image – Music – Text. Fontana Press.
Bogost, I. (2010). Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames. MIT Press.
Bučková, Z. (2019). Religious motives as part of virtual reality created by the digital game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. European Journal of Science and Theology, 15(1), 223–233.
Bukatko, B. (2025). Transtekstualność w grach wideo – deheroizacja i intermedialność na przykładzie serii gier Tomb Raider i Uncharted. Kultura – Media – Teologia, 61, 23–40. https://doi.org/10.21697/kmt.2025.61.02
Całek, A. (2019). Opowieść transmedialna. Teoria – użytkowanie – badania. Instytut Dziennikarstwa, Mediów i Komunikacji Społecznej Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego.
Cesário, V., Ribeiro, M., & Coelho, A. (2023). Exploring the intersection of storytelling, localisation, and immersion in video games – a case study of The Witcher III: Wild Hunt. W: International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (s. 546–552). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35989-7_69
Deltcheva, R. (1998). The Difficult Topos In-Between. The East Central European Cultural Context as a Post-Coloniality. The Sarmatian Review, 18(3), 557–562.
Dirksen, S. (2018). Between Authenticity and Fantasy: The Medievalist Music of the Videogame The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015) [praca licencjacka, Uniwersytet w Utrechcie].
Domsch, S. (2013). Storyplaying: Agency and Narrative in Video Games. De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110272451
Eco, U. (1984). Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language. Macmillan.
Gee, J.P. (2003). What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1145/950566.950595
Genette, G. (1982). Palimpsesty. W: H. Markiewicz (oprac.), Współczesna teoria badań literackich za granicą. Antologia, t. IV, cz. 2 (s. 317–366). Wydawnictwo Literackie.
Genette, G. (1997). Palimpsests: Literature in the Second Degree. University of Nebraska Press.
Głowiński, M. (1992). O intertekstualności. W: J. Ziomek, J. Sławiński & W. Bolecki (red.), Między tekstami: intertekstualność jako problem poetyki historycznej. Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.
Green, A.M. (2017). Storytelling in Video Games: The Art of the Digital Narrative. McFarland & Company.
Hevia, C.M. (2007). Video games localisation: posing new challenges to the translator. Perspectives, 14, 306–323. https://doi.org/10.1080/09076760708669046
Janion, M. (2006). Niesamowita Słowiańszczyzna: Fantazmaty Literatury. Wydawnictwo Literackie.
Jański, K. (2018). Creation of the fictional world in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Homo Ludens, 11(1), 117–133. https://doi.org/10.14746/hl.2018.11.7
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. NYU Press.
Jennett, C., Cox, A.L., Cairns, P., Dhoparee, S., Epps, A., Tijs, T., & Walton, A. (2008). Measuring and defining the experience of immersion in games. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 66, 641–661. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2008.04.004
Juul, J. (2005). Half-Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds. MIT Press.
Kochańska, A. (2017). Parafrazy jako forma intertekstualności w nazwach osiągnięć wybranych gier wideo. Śląskie Studia Polonistyczne, 1(9), 123–134.
Kristeva, J. (1969). Le mot, le dialogue et le roman. Semeiotiké. Recherches pour une sémanalyse (s. 143–173).
Kristeva, J. (1972). Problemy strukturowania tekstu. Pamiętnik Literacki, 4, 234–250.
Kristeva, J. (1980). Desire in Language: A Semiotic Approach to Literature and Art. Columbia University Press.
Kristeva, J. (1983). Słowo, dialog i powieść. W: E. Czaplejewicz & E. Kasperski (red.), Bachtin. Dialog. Język. Literatura (s. 394–418). Warszawa.
Kubiński, P. (2015a). Co wyczytasz pod skórą Wiedźmina 3? ha!art. Postdyscyplinarny magazyn o kulturze współczesnej, 51, 35–39.
Kubiński, P. (2015b). Dyskurs filozoficzny w grach wideo. Wybrane konteksty w grach Wiedźmin 3: Dziki Gon, The Stanley Parable oraz The Talos Principle. Wielogłos, 25, 97–110. https://doi.org/10.4467/2084395XWI.15.024.4802
Lucat, B. (2017). Playing with patriarchy: fatherhood in Bioshock: Infinite, The Last of Us, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. W: Proceedings of DiGRA 2017 Conference (s. 1–18). https://doi.org/10.26503/dl.v2017i1.933
Maj, K.M. (2015). Czas światoodczucia. Immersja jako nowa poetyka odbioru. Teksty Drugie, 3, 368–394.
Majkowski, T. (2018). Geralt of Poland: The Witcher 3 between epistemic disobedience and imperial nostalgia. Postcolonial Perspectives in Game Studies, 4(1), 1–35. https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.216
Mattsson, E. (2018). Dialect representation: Language varieties in The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt [praca licencjacka, West University w Trollhättan, Szwecja].
Maziarz, P., & Onik, D. (2019). Cultural Barriers in Equivalence – The English Localization of the Video Game Wiedźmin 3: Dziki Gon. Explorations: A Journal of Language and Literature, 7, 45–57. https://doi.org/10.25167/EXP13.19.7.6
Nakonieczna, J. (2025). Wiedźmin w kontuszu. Komunikacyjna rola literackich nawiązań w medium współczesnych gier wideo. Perspektywy Kultury, 49(2), 359–372.
Nieborg, D.B., & Sihvonen, T. (2009). The new gatekeepers: The occupational ideology of game journalism. Freiburger Zeitschrift für GeschlechterStudien, 25(2), 26–42. https://doi.org/10.26503/dl.v2009i1.364
Ołownia, M. (2023). Literatura w grach wideo. Rozeznanie wstępne. Images. The International Journal of European Film, Performing Arts and Audiovisual Communication, 42, 71–84. https://doi.org/10.14746/i.2023.33.42.4
Poor, N. (2012). Digital Elves as a Racial Other in Video Games. Games and Culture, 7(5), 375–396. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412012454224
Prajzner, K. (2022). Czytanie interaktywnych obrazów. Gry komputerowe w perspektywie dynamicznej tekstualności. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego. https://doi.org/10.18778/8220-757-6
Ryan, M.-L. (2001). Narrative as Virtual Reality: Immersion and Interactivity in Literature and Electronic Media. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Salen, K., & Zimmerman, E. (2004). Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. MIT Press.
Schweiger, B. (2017). Reprezentacje władzy w grach komputerowych. Porównanie Wiedźmina III oraz Dragon Age: Inquisition. Teksty Drugie. Teoria literatury, krytyka, interpretacja, 3, 276–293. https://doi.org/10.18318/td.2017.3.17
Somerdin, M. (2016). The game debate: video games as innovative storytelling. The Oswald Review: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Criticism in the Discipline of English, 18(7), 69–82.
Steffen, O. (2012). Introduction: Approaches to Digital Games in the Study of Religions. W: P. Bornet & M. Burger (red.), Religions in Play: Games, Rituals, and Virtual Worlds. PANO Verlag.
Stevens, J. (2020). Child of the Elder Blood: A Semiotics of Folklorism in the Soundtrack of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Games and Culture, 16(5), 538–556. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412020914701
Surdyk, A. (red.). (2007). Kulturotwórcza funkcja gier. Gra jako medium, tekst i rytuał (t. I). Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM.
Surdyk, A., & Szeja, J.Z. (red.). (2007). Kulturotwórcza funkcja gier. Gra jako medium, tekst i rytuał (t. II). Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM.
Vella, D. (2014). Modeling the Semiotic Structure of Game Characters. W: Proceedings of DiGRA 2014 Conference. https://doi.org/10.26503/dl.v2014i1.638
Vickery, N., Tancred, N., Wyeth, P., & Johnson, D. (2018a, grudzień). Directing narrative in gameplay: player interaction in shaping narrative in The Witcher 3. W: Proceedings of the 30th Australian Conference on Computer-Human Interaction (s. 495–500). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3292147.3292201
Woźniak, J., Rymarkiewicz, W., Łyszczasz, D., & Horbasiński, T. (2024). Effectiveness Study on the Correct Interpretation of Point Symbols Using the Online Survey Method on the Example of the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. KN Journal of Cartography and Geographic Information, 74, 29–52. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42489-023-00158-2
CD Projekt Red. (2015a). Wiedźmin 3: Dziki Gon [PC]. Polska: CD Projekt Red.
CD Projekt Red. (2015b). Wiedźmin 3: Serca z kamienia [PC]. Polska: CD Projekt Red.
CD Projekt Red. (2016). Wiedźmin 3: Krew i wino [PC]. Polska: CD Projekt Red.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.


