Anniversary!

The Witness was first released a year ago.

To celebrate, the game is on sale for 50% off on Steam, here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/210970/

Braid is also on sale, and if you already own it, you get an extra discount on The Witness: http://store.steampowered.com/bundle/2501/

Meanwhile, we are working on The Witness for MacOS, and it should be done pretty soon. iOS is also coming up but is a bit further in the future.

Happy 2017!

56 Comments:

  1. Happy 2017 Thekla team!

  2. Happy anniversary! I’m glad to hear the mac port is coming along.

  3. Is it playable by colourblind people yet?

    • I would recommend watching this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhEDARvLf90

      It features Jon talking about why he made the decisions he did with colors, (including making them skippable) along with trying to create a puzzle that only colorblind people could solve.

      In addition to the color discussion, it is also just a massively fascinating video into Jon’s mind.

  4. Love this game so much and I’m looking forward to the Mac and iOS version. It’s so good to hear you guys are still working on it.

  5. The Witness was my run away Game of the Year last year.

    I cannot remember being so frustrated and yet so satisfied at the same time. The puzzles were hard but they were always fair.

    (I never managed to finish the Challenge though)

  6. I cannot seem to find a support email but Steam’s app told me I needed to go direct to you. I set the Launch Options to -vr in the properties and now, even though The Witness opens the Oculus app (I have the latest), I get the message, “witness64_d3d11.exe has stopped working” and then am prompted to close the app. The app works as far as I can tell without -vr in Steam’s “Set Launch Options.” I really want to play this in VR and bought it for that purpose. Please advise.

    I am running Windows 10 (all updates current), on an Alienware Aurora R5 with 16GB Ram and a NVidia GForce 1080 and a 512mb SSD internal drive so the machine itself should be up to snuff.

    Many thanks!

    • We aren’t actively maintaining -vr, and I think the Oculus libraries have changed enough over time that our code is no longer compatible.
      We may update the vr option in the future, but it was never officially supported, just more like a toy for people to play with a little. We definitely do not recommend trying to play the game that way (Especially now that people are reporting it no longer works on the Rift.)

  7. If I buy the game on Steam, and then it later becomes available for Mac, will my Steam copy work, or will I have to re-buy? (I’m very excited to play it!)

    Thanks,
    J

    • I believe as long as you buy the game and log into that Steam account on your Mac, it’ll work fine. By the way, as of March 24 the The Witness is available on macOS! http://store.steampowered.com/news/28392/

    • Hey Josh,

      I’m sure you’ve already got the answer to your question but this was my experience with Steam. I purchased it once on Steam, and later on I could install it on my Mac without buying it again. (Although whein the iOS version comes out, I am planning to purchase again)

  8. Hello,
    I’m a fan of Braid and have bought both games. I bought the Witness on Steam when it came out. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the system requirements on this laptop to play the game. Now I have a computer designed for my music studio and as a result I made it intentionally to not connect to the internet. Is there a way I can play the Witness under those restrictions?

    • If you want to play on a computer that doesn’t have access to the internet, you can:

      • Buy it on GoG with a computer that has internet access
      • Download the .zip installation file
      • Move the file onto your target computer with a thumb drive
      • Install and enjoy!

      Not having web access will also reduce temptation to look up spoilers for the puzzles, so sounds like a pretty good setup to me.

  9. Damn, I skipped over this deal originally since I have a Mac. Now I’m regretting it!

    Great news that MacOS is coming soon!

  10. Damn, I guess I missed it. I really enjoyed hearing about the game from Eric on the Adam Ruins Everything podcast. Really looking forward to playing this game!

  11. Any chance of the Witness coming to Nintendo Switch?

  12. Oh, that is such good news – I’m really excited about The Witness coming to macOS, thank you so much. I’ll even be happy to pay full price for it!

  13. Congrats one a year with this wonderful game, Jonathan. I have incredibly fond memories of it. In fact, it might be time for me to replay it soon.

    PS: I’d still kill for a physical release. Particularly on the Nintendo Switch, but a boxed PC version would also be very nice to own. Hell, I might buy both.

  14. Thank you, Jonathan, for the iOS progress report.
    I have a ShieldK1 tab and am holding off buying “The Witness” for *it*
    because I’d much rather play your masterpiece on an iPad.

  15. Waiting for a 50-75% psn plus discount to get it :)

    Braid is of my best games in life and i am looking forward to play the creator’s new game.

  16. Are there still any plans for a physical release? I’ve been following the development of this game since long before it was released but I’ve been holding off on buying the digital version in hopes that I’d be able to pick up a physical copy.

  17. i check every day the OSX release since your post this. I bought the game 1 y ago for support the develop but still nothing, there is any release date?

  18. Were parts of the physical layout of Witness inspired by certain aspects of Ronda, Spain? If “No,” you should dig into some of Ronda’s features. There is one that corresponds on several points.

  19. I’ll be buying the game for at least two friends once it is released for Mac! Thanks, and happy anniversary.

  20. Congratulations for “The Witness”, one of the best indie game ever ! I made it twice, it’s a real pleasure to play this game.
    I’d love to get a DLC with another island with 300 new panels, new ideas, new concepts. When you develop a game like this, you can find a lot of interesting things and I think there is no limit to the concept.
    But after “Braid” and “The Witness” (they are both excellent), I wonder how to make a third game which would be as awesome as this twos.
    But I’m sure Mr. Blow is preparing a new big, bright and beautiful game !
    Thanks a lot Mr Blow and Thekla inc !!!

  21. Can we get an official response on the progress (or prospect) of an iOS or MacOS version of this game? Anxiously awaiting my chance to play…

  22. Howard Lewis Ship

    So it’s out for OS X via Mac App Store (great!). Is it likely to hit Steam soon? I bought it on Steam, but rarely get a chance to reboot my Mac to Windows. I’d really love to see it on Steam Mac, since I’ve already bought it on Steam.

  23. Congrats on anniversary! I bought The Witness on Steam and played it on Mac with the Boot Camp. Now that The Witness is available on the Mac App Store will Mac version be available on Steam?

  24. Where is the saved game file on the Mac? I’m preparing to do a clean install when I upgrade to Sierra, and it would be nice to be able to copy the saved game to avoid having to restart from scratch. Thanks!

  25. How do I buy this game for pc as a gift for my mum in uk ? I’m in Australia. If I put my email details in on the order page will it give me an option to send it to someone else with a gift card so she knows it’s a birthday gift from me ? Wish I could of ordered her a hard copy to have had mailed to her tho
    Thankyou

  26. I understand the MacOS version of the game utilises Metal. Will be very interesting to see how it performs (and also compare to performance in Windows on the same hardware). Waiting for the game to be available for Mac on Steam since I’ve have the Windows version there. Looking forward. :)

  27. My birthday is on March 29, and I would love to get this game. Can you get it out on macOS soon?

  28. Please make this for the Switch!
    I have not yet played this game, but I would love to play it on my newly acquired Switch! :)

  29. I found “The Witness” on at the Apple store and decided that game would be perfect for my MacAir. But after countless tries to download. I have been unsuccessful.

    I just phoned Mac support and told me to call you. The were given my processor speed plus much more.

    So now is the “The Witness” available for download? for a MacBook Air?

    I am truly hoping to get this game up and running.

  30. looking forward to the iOS versions!

  31. Jonathan, not your fault, but there are some old posts out there that say -vr mode is unofficially supported. I already owned The Witness on XB1, but just bought it again on PC this week, just to walk through the beautiful world on my new Rift headset.

    So, not really a complaint, but I wanted to make you aware the demand is there even a year later. It would be awesome if that support could be updated for those that missed it.

    Side note: I am a big fan of your projects and approach to development. I can’t wait to see what you are cooking up next.

  32. Just leaving a comment saying I would totally buy this on the nintendo switch even though I already have the steam version

  33. For those who are wondering where The Witness for macOS is: it’s out, available on the App Store and Steam.

  34. Will you be giving the Xbox version a 4K patch when Scorpio becomes available later in the year?

  35. So, I’ve been watching this page daily for announcements about The Witness coming to mac. Then, I check steam to see that it’s been released a week ago!

  36. I’ve heard as a reason from other developers that mac ports are difficult that the graphics libraries are now a bit out of date. It’s still at OpenGL 4.1 and Metal is obviously a unique library. I wonder how it’s been for you guys with your own engine?

  37. How is touch support for Windows coming along? Any ETA? Owned th gam since launch and still have yet to play it

  38. Just finished playing through it on mac. Wow. What a joyful and thought-provoking experience. I am truly amazed at all the intention and thought put into the game. Thank you for all the hard work you and your team put in to make this game great.

  39. Will it be released any time soon in Hong Kong?

  40. AMAZING GAME!!!! Looking forward for THE WITNESS II if there is one in the future, or sth like that.

  41. I probably posted this elsewhere, awhile ago, but I’ll post it again here:

    Congratulations! At this point it’s probably been roughly a year since I’ve played it, but I still find myself thinking about The Witness on a regular basis. Thanks again for making one of my favorite games of all-time :-)

  42. Will any of the developers tell me if there is anything in The Witness that nobody has found yet? If there is, I would like to try and find it.

  43. Hi Jonathan,

    This is Chase Bethea. We met at the GDP party last month. I really enjoyed our conversation and wanted to keep in touch. You told me this was the best way to reach you. I hope all is well.

    Kindly,
    Chase

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