CD Projekt stated this week that it is working on a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 and three, four, or five more Witcher games. Heavier than ever, Geralt has returned.
That is, witchcraft does. CD Projekt has stated that their next large RPG won’t contain Geralt of Rivia’s story, but it’s unclear if any of its upcoming titles will feature Geralt of Rivia in any capacity. That game, which we’re going to call The Witcher 4 for now, has been confirmed to kick off “a new triple-A RPG trilogy.” Polaris is the codename CD Projekt has given to that game. In other words, will Ciri be in it, or will a fresh group of people? This is something about which we have no information.
More likely is that Geralt will appear in one of the planned spin-offs that CD Projekt referred to this week by codename: Canis Majoris, a “full-fledged Witcher game, separate to the new Witcher saga starting with Polaris,” and Sirius, a Witcher game developed by formerly independent studio Molasses Flood and featuring multiplayer.
The Witcher universe is full of rumblings, and these are just a few of them. Both The Witcher: Season 3 on Netflix and its prequel spinoff, The Witcher: Blood Origin, starring Michelle Yeoh, will premiere in December 2022. A second anime film and a “family-friendly” animated series are reportedly in the works for Netflix.
What a large quantity of Witcher! Can there be too much of The Witcher? Do you think CD Projekt is merely trying to placate investors, or are they giving the franchise the love it deserves? Our group is on the fence and has been debating which side to take.
The Witcher – PC (2007) pic.twitter.com/MfrtzsttIN
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Can CD Projekt Release Three RPGs in Six Years?
Senior Editor Wes Fenlon: I have a bridge for sale in Novigrad if you think CD Projekt can complete three new role-playing games over six years. Ten years seems much more reasonable. For a team that had to postpone The Witcher 3 twice and Cyberpunk 2077 three times, a six-year schedule seems unattainable.
Not only do these games take years to make, but CD Projekt has a history of continuing to maintain them for months after release with fixes and upgrades. Cyberpunk needed that post-release time to feel like a finished game, but in the case of The Witcher 3, CD Projekt was merely making a fantastic game better; yet, getting two sequels done in six years seems improbable if that post-release time is so crucial.
On the plus side, I’m less concerned about burning out on Witcher games than I would otherwise be because I assume each sequel takes a year or two longer than intended.
Editor of the Guides, Lauren Aitken: Three games in six years is entirely feasible. When the first game is released, fans may have to wait up to four years for the next one and then another two years for the series conclusion. It’s bold, and it shows that CDPR has turned around after Cyberpunk 2077 when the company’s attitude was more along the lines of “we don’t offer precise time scales ever again!”
This leads me to believe that these games will be more limited in scope and further along in development than was previously stated. Or, they may be working on a single massive game that, once completed, will be split into three separate games to release as a trilogy. Both Blood and Wine and Hearts of Stone were released within a year of Witcher 3’s initial release, adding 30–40 hours to the game, so the bar has been set for its success.
If it worked for the Mass Effect trilogy to be released in three parts over a relatively short period, then it can work for this one, too. Just inject it into my bloodstream.
Are back-to-back-to-back Witcher RPGs Going to Feel The Samey?
Wes: For me, this is the main cause of alarm. Having played and enjoyed all three of the Witcher RPGs, I can say that they all stand out from one another with distinct personalities. Because of the need to recycle assets and incorporate design lessons, I expect CD Projekt’s next three games will share a lot of DNA. It would be incredible if the developers were able to overcome that limitation with superior storytelling and quest design. But if they’re all going to be open-world RPGs with the same characters (which seems likely if they’re planning for a separate trilogy), I can’t see them being as distinctive or improving as much between games as the first three Witchers.
Announcing three games at once seems more like a business choice than the result of ambitious devs who knew they couldn’t do everything with just one game. I am interested to watch how things develop, though, whether the developers intend to create a game in the vein of the Mass Effect trilogy, in which player choices have consequences in subsequent games.
Lauren: It’s not just a trilogy; a lot is happening! Project Sirius is being developed independently from The Molasses Flood’s in-house Witcher team. If it’s anything like their prior efforts (The Flame in the Flood, Drake Hollow), it will be completely different from any other Witcher game, whether it be Gwent or a standalone title like Thronebreaker.
A separate group is working on Canis Majoris as well, an independent studio started by former Witcher employees. It’s not clear if they’re part of the new Boston team or if they’re just a CDPR spinoff (though it looks like that studio will be focused on Cyberpunk 2077 and its sequel Project Orion Orion).
Canis Majoris has the potential to feel extremely Geralt-y if it is led by a team who worked on The Witcher 3’s design and missions, and I think the trilogy will be the most recognizable, though I hate to say the same. Rather than a trilogy centered on her, perhaps Canis Majoris will be the Ciri game, or it could be the Dandelion role-playing game that Fraser has always wanted to play.
If the Lynx medallion is any indication, the focus of the trilogy will be on a different school of witchcraft, which would require a different method of recruiting Witchers and possibly a different method of mutation (might Keira and Lambert be involved in this?). This would introduce “contemporary” sorcery and alchemy as the two, and possibly Ciri could inspire Geralt, Ciri, and company to devise innovative techniques for hunting monsters with fresh batches of Witchers. Alternatively, perhaps they can use portals to escape the monsters on Earth and travel throughout time and space. There’s also the question of whether or not any of these games will follow the canon “Ciri becomes a Witcher” conclusion. Alternatively, do we have our sights set on potential dangers further down the road? Who else besides Detlaffe and the Unseen Elder do we have to worry about? Put your mind to work, Wes.
I’m doing my best, Wes. Here’s hoping! Um… What is this, The Witcher: Time Bandits?
Between games and TV, can We See too Much of the Northern Realms?
Wes: Although I thoroughly enjoyed The Witcher 3, I feel like I’ve had my fill of wonderful media in recent years. I spent my adolescence and early twenties immersed in the Star Wars universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but I’m starting to tire of both. I was a complete sap and watched the movie about young Han Solo.
In the same vein, I have no interest in playing a game starring a young Geralt or watching a Netflix spin-off starring Dandelion that features either Daddy Vesemir or Dandelion. I adore these individuals so much! However, the fact that I don’t have complete information on them is something I find to be partially appealing.
My favorite aspect of The Witcher 3 is how, during several quests, Geralt will run into other Witchers or old friends; CD Projekt did a fantastic job of scripting dialogue that fleshed out their ties and history without info-dumping.
This expanded Geralt’s sense of place and realism and highlighted the breadth and depth of his experiences. When every character has a backstory and every piece of media is connected to every other piece of media in a Marvel-style shared universe, you lose something in the pursuit of making every piece of media fantastic.
It’s not exactly an MCU situation, therefore it may never happen with The Witcher, as CD Projekt and Netflix are each doing their own thing. But the fact that a new trilogy and more spin-off games are being produced at the same time gives me pause for concern. Plus exhausted.
Lauren: However, there is a vast undiscovered world outside of the major cities that deserves your attention. The area is a cool place to visit in-game, as are Mahakam, Lyria, and Rivia, especially if we get to go more out than we have so far. While Thronebreaker does give you a glimpse of these places, it is by no means a substitute for a fully realized world. It’s time for Witchers to expand their horizons beyond the Northern Realms and Novigrad.
Of course, one of my favorite parts of Witcher 3 was observing the Witchers in their natural habitats interacting with one another, but it would be nice to see more of them in one spot for more than just one task in which they get drunk in a fortress. Since the elves’ storyline from The Witcher 2 was ignored in The Witcher 3, I hope CD Projekt will give the sorceresses and the elves more screen time in the next game. And I’m eager to hear more of the fantastic tales about golden dragons from the pages of books. However, this is because I am a huge nerd.
The Witcher taking on more of a Marvel Cinematic Universe vibe is something I’m wary of as well. In all honesty, though, that’s not a big deal for me because I adore the Witcher universe so much outside of the games. It is a gamble to say that many Witcher games, a successor to CP2077, and other projects are all in development at the same time. Still, I get it: CD Projekt is trying to drum up more funding, keep fans guessing, and demonstrate that it remains dedicated to the gaming industry despite the “failure” of CP2077’s initial release. Establishing a brand-new studio in Boston is evidence of your determination to succeed. CDPR has returned to an exciting period. But, forget about brand-new games for the time being; where is the next-gen upgrade for The Witcher 3?
Wes: Despite my reservations about further expanding the Witcher universe with origin stories and the like, I would play a Final Fantasy Tactics-style turn-based strategy game in a heartbeat. Adapting Metal Slug into a tactical RPG? That’ll do the trick for Geralt, for sure!