CD Projekt Red has confirmed that the previously announced Witcher Remake is currently not moving forward, although that may change in the near-to-far future. It’s been nearly four years since The Witcher Remake was first announced, all the way back in October 2022, to coincide with its anniversary. It was previously teased as codename Canis Majoris, with it also confirmed that Fool’s Theory was working on The Witcher Remake with creative supervision from CDPR, and that’s pretty much it.
Obviously, for a brand-new Witcher game announced four years ago, that’s raised some alarm bells. It doesn’t help that development on the reported Witcher multiplayer game with Molasses Flood as the main studio recently experienced layoffs, so that uncertainty created some questions for CDPR.
The Witcher 1 Remake is on Ice
As reported by GameSpot, CD Projekt Red has confirmed that the Witcher 1 remake is on ice, on hold, and on pause, whichever term you prefer. It’s not being actively worked on right now. Fool’s Theory is currently leading development on The Witcher 3‘s Songs of the Past DLC, while a small tangent of the team is also supporting development on The Witcher 4. CDPR confirmed that some of the technology needed for The Witcher 1 Remake is being developed for The Witcher 4, so the former needs the latter to progress more before it can move forward itself. In CDPR’s own words,
“[The] Fool’s Theory team is focused mainly on the development of Witcher 3: Songs of the Past, while a relatively small part of their team is supporting the development of The Witcher 4. As we have previously announced, the development of The Witcher Remake has been temporarily integrated with The Witcher 4 due to production process dependencies. As The Witcher Remake will be built on the foundation laid by The Witcher 4, we need to have the necessary assets, tools, and pipelines ready for efficient development.”
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GameSpot also reports that this technology dependency is likely related to Unreal Engine. CD Projekt Red has been shifting away from its proprietary RED Engine for the latest versions of Unreal Engine, on which The Witcher 4 and the entire next Witcher trilogy is being built. In other words, The Witcher 1 Remake got caught in the crossfire of this shift, with the upcoming remake also being built on this Unreal Engine tech. Notably CDPR does not say the game is canceled, but instead, it seems that it’s been shifted further back in its pipeline.
Right now, fans know that The Witcher 3 is getting a Remaster very soon, that the Songs of the Past DLC will release in 2027, and that The Witcher 4 is aiming for a 2028 release date. Somewhere in that mix or beyond will be The Witcher 1 remake, depending on what Fool’s Theory is needed for after Songs of the Past’s release. Of course, CDPR is a huge company and that’s not the only thing in the works.
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CD Projekt Red recently revealed it employs over 1000 developers, most of whom are working on The Witcher 4, but there’s also a sizable team currently working on Cyberpunk 2 for CDPR as well. CDPR previously said it wanted to release the entire next Witcher trilogy within six years of each other, making it sound like The Witcher 5 will release in 2030 and The Witcher 6 in 2032. Clearly, CDPR is full steam ahead across the board, but hopefully all of these other projects do not bury this long-anticipated remake.
- Released
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October 30, 2007
- ESRB
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m
- Publisher(s)
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Atari, CD Projekt
- Engine
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Aurora Engine
