Earlier this morning, CD Projekt Red (CDPR) announced that they are working on a remake of the first game in The Witcher series. The Witcher, which is an action-adventure RPG that was originally released in 2007, was based on the book series by Andrzej Sapkowski and spawned multiple sequels, including the most popular entry, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
News about multiple Witcher games being in development have been floating around for several weeks after the company announced they had a few lined up, presumably including a sequel to The Wild Hunt, The Witcher: 4. Now we know that at least one of those in development is a remake of the first game that spawned the successful franchise.
According to CDPR, The Witcher Remake is “being rebuilt from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5.” CDPR went on to say that the game is being developed over at Fool’s Theory, a Polish development company that currently employs multiple “veteran Witcher series staff” members while CDPR is providing creative supervision.
Additionally, CDPR confirms that The Witcher Remake is indeed the title that has been going under the codename “Canis Majoris”, and that the game is still in early development stages. CDPR adds that they are not yet ready to share any specific details of the game as they are dedicated on ensuring the remake is being made “with the utmost care and attention to detail”.
These words ring loudly after their last game, Cyberpunk 2077, debuted to the worst launch in modern gaming history to date. Since then, CDPR has been under significant scrutiny and has only managed to just dig themselves out of that colossal hole after patch after patch of CP2077 along with the success of their recent Netflix series, Cyberpunk Edgerunners which renewed interest in the game and brought in a massive surge in players old and new.
CDPR studio head Adam Badowski had the following to say:
“The Witcher is where it all started for us, for CD PROJEKT RED. It was the first game we made, ever, and it was a big moment for us then. Going back to this place and remaking the game for the next generation of gamers to experience it feels just as big, if not bigger.
Collaborating with Fool’s Theory on the project is just as exciting, as some of the people there have been previously involved in The Witcher games. They know the source material well, they know how much gamers have been looking forward to seeing the remake happen, and they know how to make incredible and ambitious games.
And although it will take some time before we’re ready to share more about and from the game, I know it’ll be worth the wait.”
As of right now, we know very little about the remake or what this game will be capable of when it releases but given their verbiage on it being early in development, there is no doubt in our minds that it will be a couple of years out before the game comes out.
Let’s just hope that while the foundation of the game is already there from the 2007 counterpart, CDPR has learned its lesson about being shady with investors and consumers alike when it comes to releasing incomplete and or non-functioning games. No one wants to go through the CP2077 nonsense again, especially fans of The Witcher franchise.
