The Witcher School that has been running LARP events inspired and/or based on the game of the same name in Poland since 2015 has closed. CD Projekt Red pulled the licensing for the Witcher name, resulting in the closure of the school, and the event company who runs the school, 5 Żywiołów, allege that the developer pulled the license due to a school staff member's involvement with far-right Polish Catholic organization Ordo Iuris.
Ordo Iuris is anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ+, and rejects the idea of gender equality, and 5 Żywiołów employee Ania Wawrzyniak's involvement with them was originally brought to light by Polish media in February 2022. Ania Wawrzyniak is also the wife of 5 Żywiołów founder Dastin Wawrzyniak. According to a Facebook post on the Witcher School page, 5 Żywiołów informed CD Projekt Red of the situation following reports and promptly had their contract terminated without explanation.
Ania Wawrzyniak was commissioned by Ordo Iuris to work on "the legal mechanisms for introducing and enforcing the vaccination obligation and the possible consequences of failure to comply with it", and "the draft of a law penalising illegal abortion". This was confirmed in a Facebook post earlier this year by Dastin Wawrzyniak and his brother Dominic.
CD Projekt Red has remained relatively tight-lipped regarding the context surrounding the Witcher School's contract termination. "In February we decided to end our cooperation with the organizers of Witcher School, and now the contractual notice period of three months has ended. For more context, this cooperation was about the LARP itself, and potential merchandise tied to it. We do not provide further details on the matter," CD Projekt Red told EuroGamer's Robert Purchese.
5 Żywiołów is now working on their own new LARP setting with hopes to launch in the spring of 2023.
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