Yesterday, August 28, saw CD Projekt hold their latest earnings call, which might not sound exciting but has led to a number of updates on the game developer’s upcoming projects. While Cyberpunk Edgerunners’ fans are already happy with the news that the company wants more animation projects like the 2022 Netflix show, Witcher players got a tasty morsel of news, as well. The next game in the Witcher series of fantasy RPGs is close to entering production.
During the earnings call, CD Projekt joint CEO Michał Nowakowski announced that work on Polaris, the codename for the next Witcher game, is progressing. “[Polaris’] development team is nearing a major milestone which will mark the end of the pre-production phase,” Nowakowski said, adding that the team is on track to enter the production phase “very soon.” This update follows the announcement that two-thirds of CD Projekt were working on Polaris as of the FY 2023 earnings call in March of this year, with the total employees on the project now sitting at 410 out of 639.
The next Witcher game is on track to be the company’s next release, with a window of 2025 originally stated when the project was announced back in October 2022, though that will likely be delayed considering production has yet to start. While we haven’t seen anything from Polaris, we do know that Geralt, the gruff but loveable star of the first three games will return, albeit in a supporting role this time around according to his voice actor as his saga ended with The Witcher 3. There has been no confirmation of who the new protagonist will be or what the story will be about, but best bets are on Ciri, Geralt’s adoptive daughter who you briefly get to play as in the Witcher 3, making a return as the game’s leading lady.
As for Cyberpunk fans, you’ll have to be satisfied with the news that the next game in the series, codenamed Orion, has 60 employees as of the latest earnings call. Nowakowski added that the team at CD Projekt Boston is “laying the groundwork for Project Orion.”
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