Even though developer CD Projekt Red is hard at work on what’s their most ambitious game yet, Cyberpunk 2077, they could be well on their way to making a follow-up to the critically acclaimed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which released back in 2015.
Even though the third installment of The Witcher franchise was, by far, the best-selling game in the series, CD Projekt Red opted to go in a new direction with their next game, as Cyberpunk 2077 will be a first-person shooter, as opposed to a third-person RPG. But, just because the Polish game studio decided to dive into a brand new world with their next project doesn’t mean that they won’t return to the world of The Witcher at some point.
After several years of having issues with each other, CD Projekt Red recently revealed that they had come to a new agreement with Andrzej Sapkowski, who is the author of the books. For those who don’t know, the author of the famed fantasy book series sold the video game rights to CDPR for a very small lump sum, as he didn’t think that the games would be as successful as they ended up being.
In addition to announcing their new agreement with the author of The Witcher, CD Projekt Red released the following statement.
“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.”
So, now that the two sides have come to a new agreement, The Witcher 4 seems more likely than ever. But, with CDPR being fully committed to Cyberpunk 2077, it’ll probably be a while before the project is even announced. It’s also unclear if the fourth main installment to the series will feature Geralt of Rivia as its main protagonist, or if the series will shift over to Ciri.
Back in 2017, which was two years before CDPR came to their new agreement with The Witcher’s author, CEO Marcin Iwinski said that, while they’re not abandoning their popular IP for good, it’s not their current focus. Of course, everyone knows now that their primary focus is Cyberpunk 2077.
Netflix recently released the first season of The Witcher, and so far, the reviews have been mixed. But, the show is coming back for a second season, and the success of the show could convince CDPR to begin on a fourth main installment to what’s their most popular IP sooner rather than later.
