At the end of October, CD Projekt Red announced the remake of The Witcher. The original game, although it was not that popular at the time, began to attract the eyes of the players after the success of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and, of course, the Netflix series. The Poles did not miss the opportunity to take advantage of the hype that surrounds the franchise and they want everyone to try their saga from the first installment.
During the announcement, yes, the company did not share too many details at the playable level. However, this week CD Projekt confirmed during an internal presentation that the remake of The Witcher will bet on an open world (via VGC). The news, obviously, is quite significant, since it will completely change the linear adventure that we knew in the distant 2007.
Why this important decision? Very easy. One of the innovations that catapulted the success of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt it was precisely his open world. Many players became fans of the franchise with this installment; so the best way to draw attention to the first game was with a remake that offered a free-roaming setting.
Previously, the Poles had anticipated that The Witcher it will be developed practically from scratch, but we did not imagine that they would integrate an open world. Now, this also has a slight disadvantage, and that is that creating it will take more time than a remake usual. In fact, the study has not wanted to advance a tentative release date; even less with the well-known history of delays suffered cyberpunk 2077 – and that little or nothing served -.
Despite the above, they are very confident with the development of the remake, largely because they will leave aside their own problematic graphics engine. Instead, will embrace Unreal Engine 5, from Epic Games. Said engine has proven its worth in the industry on more than one occasion, mainly because it integrates all kinds of technologies that make it easy to create any game regardless of its genre. Even CD Projekt plans to use it in The Witcher 4 and the sequel to cyberpunk 2077.
“The Witcher It’s where it all started for us, for CD Projekt Red. It was the first game we made, and it was a big moment for us back then. Going back to this place and remaking the game for the next generation of players to experience feels just as big, if not bigger,” said Adam Badowski, company director.
We must not forget that CD Projekt has an ambitious future strategy with The Witcher. Beyond the aforementioned remake, a new one is also on the way. new trilogy, as well as a project developed by a third-party studio. Its release dates, of course, are still anyone’s guess.
