CD Projekt RED has revealed it has expanded its team to over 500 staff members as it enters the “most intensive phase” of The Witcher IV‘s development cycle.
Michał Nowakowski, joint-CEO of CDPR, made the comments during a Q&A following its latest financial results, where — as previously reported — he revealed that the new Witcher games are unlikely to receive expansions. He also reiterated plans to release three new Witcher titles over a period of six years, with The Witcher IV being the first out the door.
Elsewhere, he touched on the new Witcher 3: Wild Hunt expansion, Songs of the Past, which is slated to arrive next year, although it was initially pencilled in for a 2026 launch.
First and foremost, we really want to deliver a great experience to fans; a really cool expansion that’s gonna make people happy to come back to The Witcher 3 setting. Indirectly it is in a way a reminder, a prologue – not in a verbatim way, but a prologue to the actual The Witcher 4, and you can look at it as a way to maintain certain chatter around The Witcher 3.But all of those are side effects, while the core thing from our perspective is delivering a high-quality experience to existing fans of The Witcher.
Nowakowski revealed earlier this year that CDPR swelled its ranks by over 200 people in the last year or so, with many of them involved in the development of The Witcher IV. In February, it was also confirmed that Marcin Przybyłowicz, the composer behind The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, is returning for the sequel.
The Witcher IV was originally announced during The Game Awards 2024 with a cinematic trailer, and revealed that Ciri will be replacing Geralt as the main protagonist – something that Geralt actor Doug Cockle fully supports. The role has been recast for The Witcher IV however, with Jo Wyatt replaced by Ciara Berkeley.
[Source – GI.biz]