CD Projekt Red is currently working on six new titles in the Witcher universe. They have now announced that after the release of the Cyberpunk 2077 DLC, over 300 developers are working on Project Polaris
, the next Witcher game: The Witcher 4.
What is Project Polaris? Project Polaris is, according to developer CD Projekt Red, the next game title in the Witcher universe, also often referred to as The Witcher 4. The official working title, however, is The Witcher: A New Saga begins.
The next installment will not revolve around the previous protagonist Geralt of Rivia. Concrete details about the story, the new main character, and whether another Witcher school will be the focus are not yet known. However, we know that it is supposed to be an open-world RPG like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
CD Projekt Red is accelerating: Already over 300 developers are working on The Witcher 4
What announcements have been made now? On November 28, 2023, CD Projekt Red held their earnings call for Q3 2023. In it, they presented their earnings and successes from the past three quarters and the rough planning for the upcoming months to their investors.
In addition to a major retrospective on the release of Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty, a picture was shown with the current distribution of work among developers:
The representation shows that almost 50% of the current developer teams are working on The new Witcher game – Polaris
. The CEO of CD Projekt Red, Adam Kiciński, also announced in the call that nearly 330 people are currently working on the next Witcher game. He expects the team to grow to over 400 developers by mid-2024.
You can view the full presentation on the official website of CD Projekt Red.
When could Project Polaris be released? Project Polaris has been in pre-production since May 2022. The main development phase should only start after the release of the Cyberpunk 2077 DLC Phantom Liberty – which is now.
Engineering Director for Management and Audio at CD Projekt Colin Walder also stated that they do not want to repeat the mistakes made during the development of Cyberpunk 2077 with Witcher 4. Among other things, it is important to them not to set hard deadlines anymore.
A timely release is not to be expected, partly due to the now properly starting development. Colleagues from GameStar currently predict a release from 2025, likely much later.
What does the future of the Witcher universe look like? As already mentioned, CD Projekt Red has currently announced six games in the Witcher universe. In addition to Project Polaris, you can also look forward to a remake of the first Witcher game. However, this will not be developed by CD Projekt itself, but by colleagues from the newly established studio Fool’s Theory.
The Witcher 5 and The Witcher 6, the two sequels to Project Polaris, have also been announced. Both games are supposed to be released within 6 years after the release of Polaris. However, before these games can be tackled, Project Polaris must be at least close to release.
CD Projekt itself will not develop it, but they have announced The Witcher Canis Majoris. The actual development studio is still unknown. What we do know is that this title is also supposed to be an AAA open-world RPG.
For multiplayer fans, however, Project Sirius will be exciting: The game is said to take place in the Witcher universe and differ from past productions. However, unlike Polaris and Canis Majoris, it is supposed to be a different type of game and offer a multiplayer experience.
Are you looking forward to Project Polaris or The Witcher 4? Do you wish that the game revolves around Geralt’s adoptive daughter Ciri, or are you hoping for entirely new protagonists? Let us know in the comments.
