CD Projekt Confirms Polaris and Orion Statuses. New Witcher and Cyberpunk Games Coming
Project Polaris will soon enter the production phase, while Project Orion remains at the conceptual stage. This was the news from the CD Projekt Group CEOs.
The CD Projekt group has confirmed recent leaks about their new projects. The Polish developer plans assume that the new Witcher game (aka Project Polaris) will enter the production phase "this year," and approximately 400 people will be working on it by the middle of 2024. This information was provided by president Adam Badowski (via Reuters agency), who replaced Adam Kicinski on this post on January 1, along with Michal Nowakowski.
The interview confirms both unofficial statements of CD Projekt RED employees and Kicinski's recent statements. Nothing specific has been revealed about the game or a more exact date of Project Polaris entering production proper. As a reminder, this will be a full-fledged continuation of the Witcher trilogy.
Next Cyberpunk a multiplayer?
Nowakowski said a bit more about the other project. The continuation of Cyberpunk 2077 is still in the conceptual phase, and the developers are considering multiplayer elements. Online modes were supposed to be part of the first adventure in Night City, but problems at the premiere delayed and ultimately buried the chances for that.
As work on Project Orion is less advanced than on Polaris, the title is currently overseen by a much smaller team. By the end of the year, about 80 people are expected to be working on the new Cyberpunk. Perhaps the creators will also use tools based on AI, although Nowakowski emphasized that this can only happen to improve certain processes in game production, without replacing people.
Badowski also expressed hope that CD Projekt should manage to avoid a repeat of the unfortunate debut of Cyberpunk 2077. Let's hope, because the players still haven't fully forgiven the creators for this huge flop.
