It’s been a while since fans got an update on the development of The Witcher 4, but as it turns out, no news is good news in this case. The upcoming RPG is ramping up on production, with CD Projekt Red confirming a total of 403 staffers working on it, or about two-thirds of the studio.
The headcount puts it as their single biggest project at the moment. While still in pre-production, the new mainline title is expected to enter full production in the second half of 2024. This marks a big step forward, as there were only 17 people on the team during the game’s early development stages. Then, much of the manpower went into developing the Phantom Liberty DLC for Cyberpunk 2077.
Codenamed Polaris, The Witcher 4 is being built on Unreal Engine 5 in partnership with Epic Games, and will kick off a new trilogy in the series. It’s unlikely for Geralt of Rivia to return as the main character, however, with the new saga set to introduce new gameplay elements and mechanics absent in previous installments.
As for the larger Witcher universe, there are more stories to be told. Apart from a remake of the original game, another Witcher title from Flame in the Flood developer The Molasses Flood is in the works. Supposedly, the new trilogy will be released within a six-year period, but that sounds like a tall order even for CD Projekt Red, which has a history of crunch. As with most announcements, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Trinity Sun
