Despite the negative to mixed response to the launch of their last game Cyberpunk 2077, something devs are still actively trying to rebuild with the new DLC announced yesterday, CD Projekt Red is still hard at work on the next chapter in their beloved The Witcher franchise. As well as re-confirming that a PS5 and Xbox Series X|S port of their acclaimed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is still on track for release during Q4 2022, CD Projekt has shed some insight into the current status of the next chapter in the franchise–the beginning of a new saga.
In March, CD Projekt Red revealed that it was working on a new entry in the franchise, but since then, we’ve been kept relatively abreast of the goings on with the game, from the company confirming fan speculation about a new Witcher school, that of the Lynx, the game shifting from the game’s internal Red engine to Unreal Engine 5, and most recently we learned that the “research phase” of development on the game was complete.
The latest update from CD Projekt, accompanying the news of Cyberpunk 2077‘s DLC, and the doubling down on the Q4 2022 release window of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt‘s port is the news that this new Witcher game, the fourth in the core franchise, is into the pre-production phase of development, and also planned to be “more than one game.”
The word comes from CD Projekt CEO Adam Kiciński, who discussed the prospect of the company releasing multiple new The Witcher games. “We have in mind more than one,” he confirmed. “The first saga was three games, so now we are thinking about more than one game, but we are in pre-production of the first game from the second Witcher saga.” While this news is not necessarily a surprise given the incredible sales success of the franchise to date, with 65 million copies sold overall, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt contributing 40 million to that tally with more incoming as the port launches later in the year.
The rapid ascent of The Witcher as a franchise continues, with Netflix’s The Witcher television series, starring Henry Cavill now in development of its third season, the first two of which having been received incredibly well. Both seasons have been looked upon fondly for the reverence and respect that they have shown both the video game series, but also the books, on which both the games and the show have been based upon.
The new-gen port of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC later this year, but for owners of the game on PS4 and Xbox One, they’ll receive a free upgrade to the new-gen versions provided they’ve retained their copy of the game.
