CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher trilogy of games apparently ended in 2015 and the developer suggests they may not return to the hit role playing game anytime soon. It is unknown whether this is due to the company’s unwillingness to dilute the franchise, or the reported tension between The Witcher’s creator Andrzej Sapkowski, and the studio.
However, in good news for fans of the Witcher series, there are rumours CD Projekt Red will one day return to the game’s development.
Both CD Projekt Red and Mr Sapkowski have entered into a new deal that “solidifies and reinforces the company’s relationship” with the creator.
This new agreement is believed to also confirm CD Projekt Red will continue to have the rights to develop games based on it.
A statement said: “The agreement confers new rights upon the Company and reaffirms its existing title to ‘The Witcher’ intellectual property in developing video games, graphic novels, board games and merchandise.”
Although this does confirm the studio is working on a new The Witcher game, it does suggest CD Projekt Red is keen to continue with the open world game.
CD Projekt Red is currently working on Cyberpunk 2077, meaning that if and when the computer game developer doers return to The Witcher, it will not be in the immediate future.
CD Projekt Red has remained tight-lipped about the future of The Witcher game series.
In a 2017 investor call, CD Projekt Red co-founder and CEO Marcin Iwinski admitted although the studio will not abandon The Witcher forever, it is not the developer’s current focus.
Mr Iwinski said: ”For the past ten years the team has been working on swords and castles and medieval Slavic monsters.
“So I think it’s time for some guns, androids, and some ammo.”
This position is understandable: after three massive role playing games in the same universe and the same character, it is natural to want to do something new.
The dystopian Cyberpunk 2077 is in many ways The Witcher’s opposite, meaning it fits the bill.
Mr Iwinski also reiterated how the studio values The Witcher highly.
He said: “We like this world a lot. We invested 15 years of our lives in it and a lot of money.
“So, we’ll think about another Witcher game at some point.
“But please consider us as rational people, we sometimes have weird ideas but overall our thinking is very rational.
“We have full rights to The Witcher games. They are ours.
“We have invested enormous funds into promoting it, and it’s a very strong brand.”
This statement suggests a willingness by CD Projekt Red to one day revisit The Witcher and as well as acknowledging a desire among players to play another sequel.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt famously sold more than 20 million copies.
But because of CD Project Red’s involvement in other developments it will most likely be a long time before a full-fledged return to the fantasy world is seen.