CD Projekt Red, the Poland-based video game developer, plans to kickstart the production phase of the next entry within the highly successful “Witcher” series later this year, as revealed by the company’s newly appointed joint CEO, Adam Badowski, in a statement to Reuters.
In March 2022, the company announced that the next Witcher game(codenamed Polaris) is set to be the first installment in a multi-game saga, forming a new trilogy of AAA RPGs. Essentially, this confirms the development of Witcher 4, 5, and 6.
It was further disclosed that the open-world game is under development using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, marking a departure from the company’s proprietary REDengine, which was utilized in the creation of past Witcher games and Cyberpunk 2077.
Back in May, they further confirmed the completion of the “research phase” for The Witcher 4. The studio is now dedicating its efforts to both the pre-production of this new RPG series and the development of the Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty expansion.
Witcher 4, Codenamed Polaris Reportedly Set to Release in 2026 or 27
According to new co-CEO Adam Badowski, the company aims to have around 400 people working on the project by the middle of the year. The Witcher series has garnered remarkable success, with over 75 million copies sold since the release of its first game in 2007.
Although the release date for the “Polaris” game is still undisclosed, industry analysts are forecasting that it may not make its way to our screens until 2026 or 2027. We can’t expect a major release from CD Projekt Red in the meantime.
Aside from divulging details about the upcoming Witcher saga, Badowski also provided some insights into the forthcoming sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, currently identified by the codename “Project Orion.”
As per the Joint CEO, the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 is presently in its conceptual phase, and he anticipates the project will involve approximately 80 employees by year-end. Furthermore, he mentioned the team is contemplating the inclusion of multiplayer elements, though specific details were not revealed.
The company initially planned to develop a standalone AAA Cyberpunk multiplayer game as a follow-up to Cyberpunk 2077. However, the project was abandoned in the aftermath of the original game’s problematic release.
Nowakowski also mentioned that the company has formed a team dedicated to exploring the application of AI in the development process.
“We think that AI is something that can help improve certain processes in game production, but not replace people,” he said.
He also tackled concerns regarding increasing wage pressures, assuring that the situation has stabilized and there will be relatively minimal hiring within its Polish studio. Meanwhile, expansion will persist at the company’s North American studio.
