CD Projekt Red has been extremely transparent in the past few months, possibly in an attempt to gain back some goodwill from its fanbase after the disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077. Because of this, we know about a whole bunch of games the developer has in the works - such as a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel and a new IP codenamed Project Hadar - but we don't have much of an idea about when they'll launch. Thankfully, things have been made a little clearer regarding the Witcher series.
It was announced a while back now that a new trilogy of Witcher games is being planned, as is a remake of the original Witcher game that launched back in 2007. Again, CD Projekt Red didn't announce even release windows for these titles, but we now know roughly what order they'll launch in thanks to some comments made by CD Project Red president and joint CEO Adam Kiciński in a financial report for the developer's third quarter (thanks TheGameSpoof).
According to Kiciński, the planned remake of the original Witcher won't launch until after the release of The Witcher 4. Kiciński explains that the reason for doing this is so that the Witcher remake can utilize technology that is being built specifically for The Witcher 4, presumably in an attempt to make sure the remake matches the visuals of the new game. He states that both will be developed "partially in parallel," but The Witcher 4 will be the first out of the gate.
"Coming back to The Witcher Remake and when it will come, yes, it will come after Polaris (The Witcher 4), which is a consequence of how we think about this project," says Kiciński. "I think that The Witcher Remake will be based in big part on technologies from Polaris, so it will be developed partially in parallel to Polaris, but once Polaris is launched, everything for Polaris will be then in the final shape, and it will be partially reused in the remake."
As for when that will be, it's unlikely we'll see the game's release in the next couple of years. The Witcher 4 has only just recently found its director and Kiciński said back in early October that development on the title is in the earliest stages at the moment. He even confirmed that the game's going to take at least three years to develop before it hits store shelves, and that's only if things go according to plan.
Given that development of The Witcher 4 isn't even full flow, that means we'll probably have to wait even longer for The Witcher Remake, which is unsurprising considering Geralt voice actor Doug Cockle hasn't even been contacted yet about returning. Unfortunately, we won't be getting any more Witcher games for a good long while, but at least now we know we'll have a brand new adventure to experience before we get to dive into more familiar territory.