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CD Projekt has confirmed that development on the new The Witcher game is ramping up, with over 200 developers now tasked with working on the franchise’s next mainline entry. The announcement comes as CD Projekt continues to put the finishing touches on Cyberpunk 2077’s upcoming Phantom Liberty DLC ahead of its September 26 release.
CD Projekt confirms ‘almost 260’ developers are currently working on the next mainline The Witcher game
As first reported by VGC, CD Projekt has shared new details about development on the next mainline The Witcher game as part of a recent earnings call. According to CD Projekt CEO Adam Kiciński, the development team for the long-awaited next entry in The Witcher franchise, codenamed Polaris, has grown to nearly 260 developers. While much of CD Projekt’s staff is currently working on Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty DLC, Kiciński states that many of those developers will eventually make their way to the Witcher team.
CD Projekt first teased the idea of a new The Witcher game in 2020 in the leadup to Cyberpunk 2077’s ultimately ill-fated launch, stating at the time that it would not be The Witcher 4. In addition to developing a new mainline entry in its popular fantasy franchise CD Projekt also has a multiplayer spin-off in the works, though it faces an uncertain future. Developed by The Molasses Flood, The Witcher’s multiplayer spin-off was rumored to have been canceled after CD Projekt announced in March that it would “re-evaluate” the title following disappointment inside the company over the direction of the project.
While fans of The Witcher franchise will surely be glad to hear that work on the next mainline game continues in earnest, not every developer at the Polish publisher will have the chance to join the Polaris team. Earlier this year, it was announced that 100 layoffs at CD Projekt Red, the company’s development arm, are expected by QA 2024. The drastic cutback in staffing, representing roughly 9% of CD Projekt Red’s entire team, came as mass layoffs swept across the gaming industry throughout 2023.