What you need to know
- Developed by CD Projekt RED, The Witcher was first released for PC back in 2007.
- The game later received an Enhanced Edition, but plans for a console port were shelved.
- CD Projekt RED shared that the previously-announced project Canis Majoris is a remake of The Witcher using Unreal Engine 5.
- The remake is being developed in partnership with Polish studio Fool's Theory.
CD Projekt RED is going back to where it first began with The Witcher games.
CD Projekt RED shared on Wednesday that the previously-revealed project codenamed Canis Majoris is in fact The Witcher Remake. This remake is being developed using Unreal Engine 5, and is being created in partnership with Fool's Theory, a Polish studio that has hired several staff that previously worked at CD Projekt RED.
The Witcher was first released in 2007 on PC. While it found critical and commercial success, the somewhat rythm-based combat is widely considered to have not aged well, and the game's visuals are naturally well behind those of the studio's later games in the series, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which were released in 2011 and 2015, respectively.
While CD Projekt RED planned a console port of the first game that was titled The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf, plans for this port fell through after CD Projekt RED fell out with planned porting team Widescreen Games, a team which went bankrupt and dissolved in 2009.
“Collaborating with Fool’s Theory on the project is just as exciting, as some of the people there have been previously involved in The Witcher games," said Adam Badowski, head of CD Projekt RED. "They know the source material well, they know how much gamers have been looking forward to seeing the remake happen, and they know how to make incredible and ambitious games. And although it will take some time before we’re ready to share more about and from the game, I know it’ll be worth the wait.”
CD Projekt RED recently shared the codenames and details of multiple projects that are in development. In addition to Canis Majoris, other Witcher projects include a new trilogy that's beginning with the next Witcher game — codenamed Polaris — which is also being developed using Unreal Engine 5.
Finally, CD Projekt RED's Boston studio The Molasses Flood is working on a game codenamed Sirius, which will introduce some form of multiplayer to the franchise.
