As Cyberpunk 2077 reaches an amazing sales milestone, CD Projekt RED reveals a big update for the next Witcher game
Cyberpunk 2077 has crossed 30 million copies sold, with CD Projekt RED now in full production on the next Witcher game.
What you need to know
- Cyberpunk 2077 has crossed 30 million copies sold.
- The game first launched in December 2020 to divisive opinions over a number of bugs, glitches, and other issues, with CD Projekt RED updating the game over the following months and years.
- Cyberpunk 2077's expansion, Phantom Liberty, launched in September 2023 and has sold over 8 million copies so far.
- CD Projekt RED is now in full production on the next Witcher game.
We've got some big updates on two massive gaming franchises.
Polish publisher CD Projekt shared on Tuesday that Cyberpunk 2077 has crossed 30 million copies sold, while its expansion Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty has crossed eight million copies sold. This is up an additional five million copies for the base game from the last milestone given back in October 2023, while Phantom Liberty has nearly sold an additional four million copies since November 2023.
Alongside this sales update, CD Projekt confirmed that the development team on Polaris (the codename for the next Witcher game) have moved into full development.
"I’m proud to confirm that several weeks ago the Polaris team wrapped up preproduction and moved on to full-scale production – the most intensive phase of development. We are very pleased with our progress on this project, and I wish to thank the team for its dedication," says Michał Nowakowski, joint CEO of CD Projekt.
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Analysis: With an impressive turnaround complete, CD Projekt is prepped for the future
Cyberpunk 2077 has had a long road to its current success. The game's development was troubled, with a launch pushed before the title was ready, especially on last-generation consoles.
Years of patches and updates later — as well as reinvigorated popularity thanks to Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, an animated series and one of the best video game adaptations ever — it's considered one of the best games available. That only became more true with the launch of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, an expansion that tells a spy thriller story as V gets drawn into a dark web of mystery.
With Cyberpunk's turnaround solidified, it'll be interesting to see how things go with the next Witcher game. Little is currently known, although we know this game is meant to kick off a new trilogy. Additionally, it seems abundantly clear it won't be starring Geralt of Rivia, the White Wolf and main protagonist of the first three games.
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Further out, CD Projekt RED is working on a number of other projects, both in-house and with partner studios. A team in the company's Boston office is working on a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, led by members of the team that helmed Phantom Liberty. Meanwhile, Fool's Theory (a studio that was amusingly founded by former CD Projekt RED developers) is working with CD Projekt RED on a remake of the original Witcher.
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Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on Xbox and PC gaming on Windows Central. You can find him on Twitter @SamuelTolbert.
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GraniteStateColin This is the next game I'm most looking forward to. I think the Witcher 3 was the best game I ever played -- the story, the character depth, just perfection -- until Cyberpunk 2077 came along and took that crown surpassing The Witcher 3 at everything that made that game great (even before all the fixes, I still thought it was an upgrade from The Witcher 3).Reply
So does anyone here who knows more about AAA game development than I do know what this likely means for a release window? How much time is usually spent in full-production vs. preproduction? Is there a common ratio? Is there a post-production period that occurs after the full-production phase completes?
IIRC, in 2022, CDPR said no sooner than 3 years, which would be no sooner than 2025. So assuming they don't quite hit that, is sometime in 2026 a likely release window, or is that still being overly optimistic based on what little we know?