The Next Witcher Game May Be at Least a Couple of Years Away

CD Projekt Red has offered an update on the status of its next Witcher game, hinting that the project may be at least a couple of years away from release. While not many details have been divulged on the next phase of Witcher games, the latest update offers a glimpse into the studio's current progress.

CD Projekt Red has experienced an eventful few years following the chaotic release of Cyberpunk 2077 in 2020. Fortunately, the studio soon regained confidence in the industry largely thanks to numerous patches for Cyberpunk 2077 and a next-gen upgrade to Witcher 3. Even before the release of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, CD Projekt Red reported a 66% jump in net profits for its 2022 fiscal year. Now, with the successful launch of the Cyberpunk 2077 DLC, the team appears to be centering its main focus on the next Witcher game.

In an interview with Reuters, CD Projekt Red's CEO Adam Badowski stated that the studio aims to kick off the production phase of the next trilogy of Witcher games in 2024. As of late 2023, about half of CDPR devs have been working on Polaris. Now, Badowski mentions that the studio hopes to «have around 400 people working on the project by the middle of the year.» While the company has yet to offer a potential release window, analysts suggest that the game could debut in 2026 or 2027. Of course, this would depend on how far the game's production progresses during this year.

Additionally, CDPR is also putting more effort into Project Orion, the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel. Last year, the company stated Phantom Liberty would be the last add-on to Cyberpunk 2077 and that Orion was in its conceptual stage. While the project still appears to be in its conceptual phase, Badowski expects CDPR to have about 80 people working on the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel by the end of 2024.

Apart from the next mainline entries of The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077 franchises, CDPR is also working on two other Witcher games, codenamed Sirius and Canis Majoris. Project Sirius is set to