Work is set to begin on a new Witcher game once Cyberpunk 2077 (opens in new tab) launches, CD Projekt president Adam Kiciński has revealed.
Kiciński told a group of journalists (via Eurogamer Poland (opens in new tab)/PSU (opens in new tab)) that a “relatively clear concept” has already been staked down for the next entry in the Witcher series, but that full production would kick off “immediately” after Cyberpunk 2077 hits the shelves.
Cyberpunk 2077 was recently delayed until September (opens in new tab), so it sounds like we can expect the next Witcher game to enter development around the same time.
Apparently, the new Witcher game won’t be a direct sequel to 2015’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (opens in new tab), and won’t be called The Witcher 4. Kiciński also said every game the Polish studio currently has planned will be based in either the Witcher or Cyberpunk universe. A smaller team from within the studio is being resourced for development on the new Witcher game, while continued development on Cyberpunk 2077 will be handled by two larger teams.
No further details were provided on the next Witcher game, except that it will be “embedded” into The Witcher franchise. One thing we can safely presume given the timeframe is that it’ll launch on next-gen consoles, including the PS5 (opens in new tab) and Xbox Series X (opens in new tab).
The Witcher 3 is one of the most widely-celebrated RPGs of the current console generation, having just recently been ported to the Switch and updated (opens in new tab) with PC cross-save and improved visuals.
We’re likely years away from playing the next Witcher game, but we can look forward to playing these upcoming games of 2020 (opens in new tab) much sooner.