Polish studio CD Projekt RED has ambitious plans for the future of its major franchises. The company is currently working on a new Witcher trilogy, a remake of the first game, several spin off projects, the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, and the mysterious Hadar project, which is expected to become the foundation of a brand new major IP.
Following the troubled launch of Cyberpunk 2077 in late 2020, CD Projekt suffered a major hit to its reputation. Even after fixing the game and releasing the highly praised Phantom Liberty expansion, some players still have not forgiven the company for the original release issues. However, CD Projekt co CEO Michał Nowakowski believes the studio has learned from the experience and will not repeat the same mistakes.
In an interview with Knowledge, Nowakowski admitted that the Cyberpunk 2077 launch was “soul crushing” for the team and caused serious damage to the company’s reputation. He explained that future games may not convince everyone who lost trust in CD Projekt RED, but the studio has analyzed what went wrong and changed its approach to development.
CD Projekt plans to increase the pace of releasing high quality games while avoiding becoming a production machine. For example, the second Witcher trilogy is expected to be completed around six years after the release of the fourth game, although the shorter development cycle means players should not expect huge expansions similar to previous titles. Meanwhile, the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel is still in its early stages and is unlikely to launch before 2030.
According to Nowakowski, CD Projekt has created a detailed 10 year strategy and wants to become one of the leading companies in the gaming industry. At the same time, the executive remains cautious about artificial intelligence. He acknowledged that fully AI generated games may appear in the future, but confirmed that this is not the direction CD Projekt wants to follow.
The company’s next major release is expected to be the third Songs of the Past expansion for The Witcher 3 in 2027, followed by the long awaited The Witcher 4. The game is reportedly expected to launch around 2028.
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