With the majority of Cyberpunk 2077 completed, CD Projekt has now shuffled its priorities, placing the majority of its assets into developing the subsequent mainline The Witcher game, codenamed Polaris.
During an earning call to discuss the 2023 fiscal year, CD Projekt revealed that it’s dedicating a bulk of its efforts to developing the subsequent installment in its extensively in style fantasy-themed RPG sequence.
As you’ll be able to see from the screenshot under, CD Projekt was absolutely clear with buyers and people listening in on the call, exhibiting precisely how many builders are being allotted to its present and future initiatives. The chart reveals that it has over 600 builders on the studios, over 400 of whom are assigned Polaris improvement.
Also fascinating to notice is that the subsequent installment in the Cyberpunk franchise, codenamed Orion, has 47 builders presently assigned to the mission. CD Projekt additionally revealed that Orion is in the idea stage of its improvement. The firm beforehand revealed that its new studio, based in Boston, Massachusetts, has been assigned to work on the mission.
This just isn’t the primary time CD Projekt has disclosed that a good portion of its workers are engaged on the subsequent The Witcher game. In late November, during the Q3 2023 earnings report, CD Projekt revealed that almost 330 developers (practically 50% of its employees) have been tasked with developing the mission.
With immediately's announcement, some fast math exhibits that quantity is now over half of the event staff; about 64% of its employees are engaged on The Witcher 4 improvement. That increase in builders is probably going due to a "big part" of the Cyberpunk 2077 staff shifting over to work on The Witcher 4.
CD Projekt confirmed that a new The Witcher game was in improvement back in 2022. While particulars on the subsequent entry are slim, we do know that it’ll run on Unreal Engine 5. CD Projekt Red game director Sebastian Kalemba mentioned in an interview final December with Lega Nerd that the goal of the subsequent entry is to "build something that goes beyond the previous The Witcher and that manages to tell something more intense, with also more intense gameplay."
Though, don't count on The Witcher 4 anytime quickly, CD Projekt Red studio president and co-CEO Adam Kiciński mentioned in 2022 that the mission was a minimum of three years away. This signifies that it might come out as early as subsequent 12 months. It is value noting immediately's earnings call additionally disclosed that Polaris's mission stage is "pre-production."
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can comply with her on Twitter @TayNixster.