Writer of The Witcher 3 Expansion Studied the Game in College

Paula Meissner, the writer for the new The Witcher 3 story expansion, Songs of the Past, defended a thesis dedicated to Hearts of Stone back in 2017.

The expansion announcement raised questions because the project was entrusted to an outside studio, Fool’s Theory, and the lead writer’s background may help alleviate some of those doubts. In 2017, as a comparative literature student, Paula Meissner defended her bachelor’s thesis on the first official expansion for The Witcher 3, Hearts of Stone.

In her research, she examined video games as a modern form of interaction with literature, analyzing the game’s cultural layer and references to Polish classics in detail, including Stanisław Wyspiański’s The Wedding and the persona of Gaunter O’Dim.

According to Meissner, the project stemmed from her passion for the universe and a desire to prove to her professors that video games are legitimate cultural texts worthy of serious analysis. Studying the literary heritage of The Witcher subsequently influenced her professional path and her desire to create her own stories within this world.