“Praise Geraldo” emerged as both sincere celebration and ironic mockery of The Witcher 3’s overwhelming acclaim and Reddit’s intense devotion to CD Projekt Red.
Game Reception
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (May 2015) received universal praise - 93 Metacritic, over 250 Game of the Year awards. The open-world RPG set new standards for side quest quality, player choice consequences, and narrative complexity. It sold over 40 million copies and made CD Projekt Red gaming’s darling.
r/Gamingcirclejerk Response
As r/gaming flooded with Witcher 3 praise posts, r/gamingcirclejerk coined “Praise Geraldo” (a intentional mispronunciation of Geralt) to mock the excessive worship. Every discussion compared games unfavorably to Witcher 3. CD Projekt Red became “the good guys” versus EA/Ubisoft “bad guys.”
Irony vs Sincerity
The phrase existed in limbo - genuine fans used it sincerely while critics wielded it mockingly. When CDPR released free DLC and treated employees well (initially), it reinforced their saintly image. The meme predicted the Cyberpunk 2077 backlash would be catastrophic since CDPR had been pedestaled so highly.
“Praise Geraldo” became shorthand for gaming community hivemind, where collective enthusiasm morphs into dogma that brooks no criticism.
Sources: Polygon Witcher 3 review, KnowYourMeme Praise Geraldo