A rumor went around the net’ yesterday that got me super excited. Apparently, CD Projekt Red, the game developers behind (arguably) the most anticipated release of 2020, Cyberpunk 2077, were going to start working on a new Witcher game after Cyberpunk releases in September. However, Adam Badowski, the head of studio of CD Projekt Red, quickly jumped on Twitter to dispel this rumor.
Badowski has also said in an interview with Polish publication, Bankier, that The Witcher games were always meant to be “a trilogy” and therefore they “simply could not name the next game ‘The Witcher 4’.” But don’t cry in your Wolf School armour just yet, as the studio IS working on a new single player game. As Badowski stated, “The Witcher is one of two franchises on which to build the future activities of the company.” The other being, obviously, the world of Cyberpunk 2077.
The Witcher is always in our hearts and minds, but currently we are fully focused on Cyberpunk 2077. When the right time comes, we will begin to talk about other projects.
— Adam Badowski⚡️ (@AdamBadowski) March 12, 2020
Badowski isn’t giving up which IP they are focusing on, but he did announce again via Twitter that the studio has submitted Cyberpunk to age rating agencies. Whilst they wait for the ratings from each country, they’re working on “polishing technical aspects and playtesting” the game. With the game, according to Badowski, “looking better and better with each passing day!” In Australia the game is likely to get an R18+ rating as The Witcher 3 received this rating due to “High impact violence and sex.” These elements, from the game play I’ve seen, are also present in Cyberpunk 2077.
It wouldn’t be a smart move to forget about The Witcher franchise altogether, as the Netflix series has opened up the world of Geralt to a whole new audience. Thanks to the Netflix show, swaths of new fans are buying Andrzej Sapkowski’s books that inspired the games. The demand was so high that they reprinted over 500,00 copies of the series. The Witcher 3 also saw a surge in popularity with it’s previous player record increasing by 2,000 on Steam.
With the studios record of putting in an enormous amount of effort into making their games unique, we may be waiting several years until there is a new Witcher game. In the meantime, The Witcher season 2 will be premiering on Netflix sometime in 2021 and Cyberpunk is set to be released on the 17th of September 2020.
About the Author
Lisa Pollifroni
she/her
PS5/PC gamer with a passion for RPGs . Other obsessions include eating/making good food, reading, Queer history/theory and puppies, especially her own - a Beagle Staffy x rescue named Boo.
