CD Projekt Announces Ambitious Plans for “Polaris” Trilogy in 2024
CD Projekt Red, the renowned Polish video game developer behind the immensely popular Witcher series, is gearing up to enter the production phase of its next big project, “Polaris,” in 2024. In an exclusive interview with Reuters, the company’s newly appointed joint CEO, Adam Badowski, shared insights into the upcoming trilogy and the company’s strategic moves.
“We’d like to have around 400 people working on the project by the middle of the year,” stated Badowski, a seasoned professional within the company who, along with Michal Nowakowski, assumed the CEO role at the beginning of the year.
Polaris is set to be a trilogy that expands the universe of the highly successful “Witcher” medieval fantasy franchise, boasting over 75 million copies sold since its debut in 2007. Despite CD Projekt not specifying a premiere date for the first game in the Polaris series, analysts anticipate a release in either 2026 or 2027, signaling a gap in major game releases for the company in the coming years.
Following the problematic launch of Cyberpunk 2077 in late 2020, CD Projekt has been actively working on transforming its studio. The company has announced plans for several new games and confirmed that sales for Cyberpunk 2077 surpassed 25 million copies. In addition to Polaris, a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, code-named Orion, is currently in the conceptual phase. Badowski revealed that CD Projekt expects to have approximately 80 people working on Orion by the end of the year.
Acknowledging lessons learned from the Cyberpunk 2077 release, Badowski assured that the company now has better control over the game production process. “We believe that in the future, we’ll avoid a premiere like the one we faced with ‘Cyberpunk 2077,'” he emphasized.
Discussing the potential incorporation of multiplayer elements, Nowakowski hinted at the company’s consideration but refrained from providing details. He also mentioned that while wage pressures have eased, CD Projekt expects hiring in its Polish studios to be “rather low” but plans to continue expanding its North American studio.
Furthermore, CD Projekt has formed a team dedicated to exploring the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in its processes. “We think that AI is something that can help improve certain processes in game production, but not replace people,” Nowakowski affirmed.
What are your thoughts about this news? Are you looking forward to whatever’s new in the Witcher universe? Let us know in the comments section below.
