Following The Witcher 3, CD Projekt Red wants to ensure it doesn't "copy our own tricks all over again and again"
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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a mammoth success judging by most metrics. It's not only one of the most acclaimed games of its decade, it's also sold a whopping 60 million copies and passed Super Mario Bros. on the all-time charts. But CD Projekt Red doesn't want to rinse and repeat the formula for its future games.
Joint CEO Adam Badowski said as much in a new podcast looking back on a decade of the generational RPG. "At the very beginning of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, we decided to combine those two things: water and fire," Badowski said. "We would like to continue with this approach with all our next games."
Speaking on upcoming CDPR games, the co-studio head explained they "have to add something" in every new release. "We have to add something that changes the consensus. We don't want to copy our own tricks all over again and again. So every game should consist [of] something new."
Badowski acknowledges that CDPR games do tend to follow a loose formula, sure - they're usually "open world, story-driven, quality" RPGs - but, still, "every new game has to bring something new. So this is the general rule for the company."
That should bode well for The Witcher 4, which has had Ciri in the driver's seat ever since 2014, and Cyberpunk 2, which will apparently go beyond Night City with a second area that's like "Chicago gone wrong," according to the original TTRPG's creator.
Elsewhere in the interview, the developers revealed one of the biggest arguments they had while making The Witcher 3 was about just how naked Geralt should be in that infamous bath tub scene.
CDPR devs are so locked into The Witcher 4 that they're apparently using its new control scheme by accident while playing other games
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Blast through common work problems with these 11 ChatGPT prompts
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. ChatGPT is only as good as the prompt you give it. Which is why there's so much advice online promising to teach you how to write better prompts for better results. If you're new to ChatGPT and AI tools generally, prompts are just how you tell it what you want. They can be short and simple, long and detailed, or somewhere in between. The problem is, a lot of prompt advice for work still feels formal and a bit too corporate. Which absolutely works in some contexts. But not if you just want to follow up casually, write a breezy blog post, or get a second opinion on an email. We've already shared tips on how to move beyond the more robotic-sounding ones in our better prompts to use with ChatGPT and how to prompt ChatGPT to inspire your creativity guides. But here we're focusing on practical, beginner-friendly prompts for everyday work challenges. The kind of support we think ChatGPT is best for. When it's a helpful sidekick that gets you through the trickier bits of your day, from managing burnout to getting you started when you're staring down a blank page, here are some of the best ChatGPT prompts for real work problems and how to make the most of them. Prompt: 'Can you summarize this [email/report/article] in under 300 words?' If you're overwhelmed by long documents or need to quickly share the key points, this prompt is a lifesaver. Just paste in the text and ask for a summary. You can also request bullet points or a particular tone if you need it. It goes without saying here, and throughout the rest of this guide, you need to fact-check and proof the results before using them in external communication. We know that ChatGPT can still get things wrong. Use this one more for your own understanding or prep than for copy and pasting what it gives you directly into presentations or documents. Prompt: 'Can you help me write a follow-up email that's polite but firm?' If you're stuck drafting a reply, especially one where tone really matters, this can help you find the right words. You can add the initial email, provide more detail about what you're trying to say, or even include your rough draft and ask for feedback or refinement. Don't think of this as handing over all of your communications to AI, just getting a tone check when you're second-guessing yourself. Prompt: 'I have too much to do and I'm overwhelmed. Can you help me turn this into a prioritized to-do list?' This one is great for getting your thoughts in order. List all of your tasks into the chat and ask ChatGPT to sort them by urgency or energy level. It's not perfect, and you'll likely need to answer a bunch of additional questions to get helpful results, but it is a quick way to calm the chaos and start somewhere. Prompt: 'I'm panicking about [insert issue]. Can you walk me through a simple breathing exercise, one step at a time?' Let's be clear, ChatGPT isn't a therapist and shouldn't replace real support. But if you're spiralling and just need a moment of calm, it can talk you through breathing or grounding techniques. The key here is to be as specific as you can and to ask it to go slowly. ChatGPT often dumps too much info at once, so request a step-by-step approach. Prompt: 'I need help explaining [complex topic] to someone new. Can you simplify it without losing the key points?' This one is perfect for onboarding materials, training sessions or writing documentation. Especially if it's a topic you know really well and can't quite shift back into a beginner's mindset. You can also ask it to rephrase something you've already written to make it clearer or more beginner-friendly. Prompt: 'Can we role-play a salary negotiation? Pretend you're my manager and I'm asking for a pay rise.' One of ChatGPT's underrated strengths is being a rehearsal partner. Practicing conversations like this can help you feel more confident and spot any obvious gaps in your reasoning. As always, take its advice with a pinch of salt. But use it to clarify your points and prepare for different responses you may not have considered. Prompt: 'I'm running a meeting about [topic]. Can you help me write an agenda and some discussion points?' Whether it's a brainstorm, strategy session, or weekly team check-in, this prompt gives you a solid structure fast. You can also ask for time estimates, ways to encourage participation, or follow-up actions. Like many of these prompts, the more follow-up information you provide, the better. But it should be a good starting point. Prompt: 'Suggest an outline for a blog post about [topic], for [audience], in a [tone] tone.' Again, the more detail here, the better. But even this basic structure gets you started. You can also follow up with: 'What else do you need to know to help me?' This one is especially useful when you're intimidated by a blank page and just need a nudge in the right direction, rather than ChatGPT to write it all for you. Prompt: 'Rewrite this paragraph to make it clearer and easier to read." This one is ideal for reports, emails, presentations, or even social media posts. You can also follow up with: 'Now make it more casual/confident/conversational.' It's like trying on different outfits for your writing and a quick way to explore tone and clarity if you're stuck in a rut. Prompt: 'I need a name for this [project/report/initiative]. Can you give me 10 creative but relevant options?' Naming things can be hard. Especially when you're stuck in a cycle of thinking and can't come up with anything fresh. Now, ChatGPT won't always land the perfect solution, but it will push your thinking in new directions, which is often all many of us need. Try asking it to combine words, use metaphors, or reflect specific themes. Prompt: 'I'm working on [task/project]. What questions should I be asking to make sure I've covered everything?' This is one of the most underrated prompts out there. If you're not sure what you're missing, ask ChatGPT to help surface any blind spots. It can help you double-check your approach, identify missing steps, or think more strategically. These prompts aren't magic, but many of them are powerful because they're helpful starting points. As we always say, the goal here isn't to let ChatGPT do your job for you; it's to let it support you when things feel messy, slow, or uncertain. Use it as a brainstorming partner, a second pair of eyes, or a calm voice when yours feels frazzled. And remember, the best prompts don't have to be complicated. They just have to be clear, kind, and specific enough to guide the tool and better support you. 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Satellites keep breaking up in space. Insurance won't cover them.
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Airplane passengers crossing the Indian Ocean who peered out their windows on Oct. 19, 2024, might have seen what looked like a fast-moving star suddenly flash and fade. Above their heads, a $500 million satellite was exploding. Operators confirmed the destruction of the Intelsat-33e satellite two days later. There was a bright flash as the satellite's fuel ignited, followed by the flickering of the debris cloud as it fragmented into at least 20 pieces. Those satellite parts are now zooming around Earth, along with around 14,000 tonnes of space debris. The satellite wasn't insured. As space junk increases, more operators are choosing to launch without any insurance at all. To compensate, companies are cutting back on the cost of satellites and launching more of them at faster rates, thus creating a feedback loop as the cheaper satellites break up more easily and add to the problem. "I don't think it's sustainable," said Massimiliano Vasile, an aerospace engineer and professor at the University of Strathclyde Glasgow. Behind the predicament are two vectors moving in opposite directions: The cost of launching satellites is falling, while the cost of insuring them continues to soar. Even as record-low-cost launches are improving internet coverage and cell service, they're worsening the space junk problem. Low Earth orbit, where most communications satellites are circling, is becoming increasingly crowded. Satellite insurance, meanwhile, has never been more expensive. 2023 was likely the worst ever for the market, with reports suggesting satellite insurers faced loss claims of more than $500 million. 2024 may have been even worse, according to Insurance Insider. Satellite operators are responding predictably, by foregoing coverage. There are 12,787 satellites above the Earth as of the time of publication, according to the website Orbiting Now, which tracks active satellites, but only about 300 are actually insured for in-orbit accidents, David Wade, an underwriter at Atrium Space Insurance Consortium, told Data Center Dynamics. European and UK operators are legally required to insure their satellites, which puts them at a cost disadvantage compared with India, China, Russia and the U.S. American companies such as SpaceX have also been able to reduce launch costs because of reusable rocket parts. Europe's upcoming Ariane 6 rocket program, for example, is expected to cost between $80-120 million per launch, compared with SpaceX's Starship program which is anticipated to cost between $2-10 million per launch because of its reusable rockets. In the U.S., launchers are required by law to procure liability insurance for launch, but once the satellite is in orbit, insurance is no longer needed. SpaceX, for example, is self-insured, meaning it seeks third-party insurance for almost none of its Starlink satellites. "Typically, the launch cover is literally just for that [launch] stage, and once a satellite gets into orbit, you are off risk," said Steve Evans, owner of insurance data provider Artemis (which is unaffiliated with NASA's lunar program of the same name). The satellite "either makes it, or it doesn't," he told The space insurance market began in 1965, when Lloyds Bank insured Intelsat I, which broadcast the Apollo 11 moon landing. The first known satellite failures occurred in 1984, though some later recovered, including the $87 million Intelsat 5 ($2.82 billion in today's money). The industry has generally hovered around a 5% failure rate since 2000, with Data Center Dynamics reporting that there have been only 165 claims for more than $10 million across the history of the industry. The 2019 failure of a military observation satellite for the United Arab Emirates, called the Vega rocket, led to $411 million in claims — the largest such loss in history, Reuters reported. That year, total satellite insurance losses became greater than insurance premiums for the first time, according to Bloomberg. Insurers were hoping to claw that money back in following years, but Reuters reported in 2021 that Assure Space and AmTrust Financial were both stopping insurance due to collisions. Insurers were looking for a payout in 2023, but instead, that year saw close to $1 billion in claims and some $500 million in losses. For many long-standing insurers, it was the last straw; Brit, AGCS, AIG, Swiss Re, Allianz and Aspen Re all exited the space insurance market. Canopius, a specialist space insurance provider acquired by Lloyds in 2019, told via email that it was no longer underwriting space business. Of the satellites in Earth orbit, around 42% are inactive, according to Seradata. The number of active satellites increased by 68% from 2020 to 2021 and by more than 200% from 2016 to 2021. Much of space insurance is modeled off the aviation industry, but space premiums are 10 to 20 times aviation premiums, Reuters reported in 2021. A satellite in low Earth orbit typically needs $500,000 to $1 million of coverage, whereas a satellite in geostationary orbit requires $200 million to $300 million, according to the same report. Behind the rush to exit the satellite insurance industry is a fundamental problem with satellite insurance: There's usually no way to determine who was at fault. When a house burns down or a car crashes, insurers often send investigators to verify a claim before approving a payout. But in the dark reaches of space, they can't operate that way. "In the event of a loss and a claim by the insured, it is almost impossible, if not entirely impossible, for insurers to investigate the cause of the loss, whether total or partial, and thus determine the amount to compensate the insured," José Luis Torres Chacón, a professor in the department of economic theory and history at the University of Málaga in Spain, told "I think this is where the root of the problem lies." Liability insurance is problematic for satellites, too, since it's extremely difficult to tell whether a satellite broke up because of an internal explosion or because of a collision with someone else's space junk. And if the latter, it's very hard to identify where the debris came from. "At the moment, it's not possible to say it was actually a fragment from that original explosion or collision that damaged the satellite," Vasile said. "So, in terms of insurance, it's a bit of a nightmare.' Vasile believes the market is moving toward legal liability for any operator responsible for creating space debris at all. "I think the government needs to set the rules, precisely as the government sets the rules for road traffic or shipping," he said. But a switch to stricter liability could create big problems for an increasing number of launch companies that are moving to cubesats — cheaper, short-duration satellites that are eventually abandoned by their operators as gravity slowly pulls them into Earth's atmosphere. Some climate satellites are in danger of colliding with space junk. Analysis of data from NASA's Land Data operation Products Evaluation, which tracks research satellite maneuvers, reveals at least seven occasions where NASA's Terra and Aqua climate satellites lost data while having to avoid space debris. Spacecraft in low-earth orbit are already under continuous threat. On Nov. 19, 2024, the International Space Station shifted its orbit to avoid another piece of space debris — this time, from a destroyed meteorological satellite. "Even a speck of paint is enough to destroy a satellite," Jakub Drmola, who studies the politics of satellite and missile defense systems at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic, told The worst-case scenario is Kessler syndrome, a chain reaction in which the breakup of a few satellites cascades into a wipeout of everything in orbit. Some researchers think Kessler syndrome is already happening, only very slowly, and that we've already reached the stage where the cost of cleaning up space far outstrips the benefits. "The world has now begun to depend on space in ways that we never thought were going to be possible," said Gen. C. Robert Kehler, former head of Air Force Strategic Command, speaking to reporters at the 2024 Outrider Nuclear Reporting Summit in Washington DC. He favors introducing a regulatory system similar to air traffic control. "We need rules of the road," he said. RELATED STORIES — Related: 3 big hunks of space junk crash to Earth every day — and it's only going to get worse — Space debris from a SpaceX Dragon capsule crashed in the North Carolina mountains. I had to go see it (video) —NASA satellite's 'shocking' space junk near-miss was even closer than thought The problem isn't staying above our heads. On March 8, 2024, a discarded piece of hardware from the International Space Station fell through the Florida home of Alejandro Otero, shaking the whole house. His 19-year-old son was inside. NASA had jettisoned the spare battery carrier, assuming it would either burn up or land in the Gulf of Mexico. But the agency's calculations were wrong. If the debris had landed just a few feet away, someone likely would have been seriously hurt or killed, according to Mica Nguyen Worthy, an attorney who is now litigating the first-ever case of property damage from space debris against NASA. Nguyen Worthy described space debris litigation as the 'next frontier' of outer space law. Without a clear set of rules, she said, future satellites launches and space travel itself could become impossible. 'I think it's important for the space community, and why they do take it so seriously, because they don't want there to be a situation where we have trapped ourselves on Earth, [and] we can't get out."
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I'm a Bridal Makeup Artist—5 Trustworthy Drugstore Staples I Use on My Clients' Big Day
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Welcome to Drugstore Heroes, a monthly series in which we spotlight the often-overlooked and underhyped drugstore beauty products that industry experts count on. We're asking tastemakers, from editors to content creators and even celebs, to share their top recommendations for affordable yet effective products. Get ready to see the best of drugstore beauty, period. For many people, their wedding day is one of the, if not the, most important and high-stakes beauty moments of their lives. When else do you throw a massive celebration that takes months or sometimes years to plan? When else is an event attended by every important person in your life? When else are you *that* photographed? It's not the time for flaking, smudging, feathering, or any other makeup meltdown. Whether you're working with a professional makeup artist or doing it yourself (yes, it's possible), it's important to use only fail-safe and long-lasting products. You know, the ones that will withstand sweating, teary eyes, high-res photos… You name it. Surprisingly, some of the best wedding-proof makeup products can be found at the drugstore. Yes, really. Brielle Pollara, a celebrity, editorial, and bridal makeup artist, is proof of that. Below, she shares the five most reliable and budget-friendly wedding makeup products in her pro kit. How often do you use drugstore makeup products on your celebrity and/or bridal clients? I use drugstore products more often than people may think. Although in my kit there are a lot of high-end staples, there are some drugstore products that I swear by, especially for complexion and lips. It all really depends on what products can perform best under lights, cameras, and all-day wear. Regardless of the price tag, if something is tried-and-true, I'll use it. What would you say to someone who thinks drugstore makeup products can't perform as well as luxury ones, especially when it comes to a big day like one's wedding? I would tell them that price doesn't always equal performance. There are drugstore products that easily outperform some luxury ones. For a big day like a wedding, it's more about how the product wears on the skin and photographs than the branding on the bottle or the price tag. If it's in my kit, it's because I've tested it thoroughly and it works, not just because it's expensive. Any tips or tricks for finding good drugstore makeup products? There are so many options! My biggest tip would be to swatch and research. Look at reviews from MUAs on TikTok or Instagram for professional insight, not just influencers. Also, pay attention to what works best on your skin type. It's important to always test wear at home before relying on a product for a big event to avoid surprises. Don't sleep on dupes either! Some drugstore brands will formulate their products just like high-end ones. A lot of drugstore lines have great quality; you just need to know where to look. "This liner is a staple in my personal and professional makeup kit! It lasts all day, is waterproof, and is so easy to use! My most used shades are black and brown." View Deal "This has been one of my go-to lipsticks for the last 10 years! It looks amazing on almost all skin tones and has an amazing shine to it. I always pair this with a brown lip liner for the perfect nude lip." View Deal "This lipstick has a matte finish but is also very hydrating and never leaves your lips looking or feeling dry. This is the perfect nude lipstick for medium skin tones because of its peachy undertone, and for $11, it's a steal." View Deal "I [used] this mascara every day for years. The fan-effect brush gives your lashes length and volume, and it's a creamy formula, so it never leaves your lashes looking chunky. I use the shade Blackest Black, and sometimes, I use Brown Black for a softer look." View Deal "I love L.A. Girl's Shockwave Liners. They have a creamy formula and glide on effortlessly but last for hours. Gingerbread is a warm nude lip liner and pairs great with almost every shade of lipstick. Plus, it's only $6." View Deal Pollara's five wedding-proof makeup products cost $51. Talk about budget-friendly beauty for your big day.
