After the release of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, CD Projekt Red is tackling its next big project but will not necessarily give equal efforts to The Witcher 4 and a Cyberpunk sequel.
Cyberpunk 2077 has taken up most of CD Projekt Red’s time for the past three years. After a controversial release, the game finally reached a point where it was close to what people wanted it to be. The Phantom Liberty DLC and its accompanying patch are the last major gameplay additions for the title, and that means that CDPR is going to shift its human resources elsewhere.
Now, all hands on deck are being put on the next game by CD Projekt Red. In the latest earnings report for the company, it was revealed that almost half its developers are being assigned to Project Polaris, a new The Witcher game that is colloquially known as The Witcher 4.
When is The Witcher 4 coming out?
The Witcher 4 currently has no official release date, but is estimated to be coming out in 2025.
CD Projekt Red is diverting a lot of the manpower to The Witcher 4. This follows the company moving past Cyberpunk 2077, but also indicates that The Witcher 4 is being prioritized over a sequel. The Polaris team has 260 members, and it’s likely that number will grow in the coming months.
Project Polaris is set to begin a new The Witcher trilogy and will no longer focus on Geralt. While he may still appear as a character, he will no longer be the playable protagonist. It’s speculated that this new project could feature Ciri as the main character.
That said, Polaris isn’t the only project being worked on at CD Projekt Red. The company has a slew of other projects in the works, including a sequel for Cyberpunk 2077.
Will Cyberpunk 2077 be getting a sequel?
Cyberpunk 2077 has a sequel in development which is codenamed Project Orion.
Other than that codename and the fact that it’s being worked on, there are no other details on the game at this time. Given how The Witcher 4 seems to be getting priority treatment from CDPR, odds are that it will not come out any time in the near future.
Despite the rocky start that included brutally bad reviews and refunds being offered by the PlayStation Store, Cyberpunk 2077 was a financial success for the company, selling over 25 million units as of October 2023. Today, the games are fully functional on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X consoles, and are playable on PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S.
CD Projekt Red is certainly not giving up on the Cyberpunk 2077 franchise, as it announced a live-action project that will bring the series to life in a new way. The animated series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners has already proven to be a smash hit on Netflix.
A sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 4 aren’t the only projects being handled by CD Projekt Red. Other titles being worked on include another The Witcher trilogy codenamed Canis Majoris, a The Witcher-themed multiplayer game “Sirius,” and a completely new IP Hadar.