CD Projekt Red planning multiple new Witcher games, announces Cyberpunk 2077 expansion

Back in March, acclaimed video game developer CD Projekt Red announced that they were hard at work on a new game in The Witcher franchise. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt won tons of awards and captivated millions of fans around the world; it was also instrumental in bringing Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher novels to the attention of a whole new generation of readers. It’s not much of a stretch to say that without CD Projekt Red’s video game series, we may never have gotten The Witcher show on Netflix.

All of which is to say, it came as no big surprise when CD Projekt Red announced they were working on a followup. The Witcher 3 served as a capstone to Geralt of Rivia’s story, seeing him retire in the magical land of Toussaint after a life of monster slaying. For the upcoming fourth game in the franchise, the studio will take a slightly different approach.

We still don’t know too much about the new game, which we are just going to call The Witcher 4 henceforth. It almost certainly won’t focus on Geralt as its main protagonist; based on early marketing images, it will feature a new School of the Lynx branch of witchers. It’s also being made with the Unreal Engine, a first for CD Projekt Red, which developed previous Witcher games with its own proprietary software engine.

As it turns out, The Witcher 4 may just be the beginning. According to CD Projekt CEO Adam Kiciński, the developer is already considering making multiple new games set on the Continent. “We said that there will be a new saga. We have in mind more than one,” Kiciński said on a financial earnings call this week, per PC Gamer. “The first saga was three games, so now we are thinking about more than one game. But we are in pre-production of the first game from the second Witcher saga.”

It’s early days still — the fact that The Witcher 4 is only in pre-production means the actual building of the game has yet to truly begin in earnest. But it’s still exciting to know CD Projekt is thinking longterm about this next chapter of The Witcher saga. The second and third games featured systems whereby certain story elements and player choices carried over from one title to the next, similar to Mass Effect. Hopefully by taking a more longterm approach to the next generation of Witcher titles, CD Projekt can make those aspects even more robust.

Cyberpunk 2077 expansion announced

The Witcher isn’t the only CD Projekt Red game getting a boost of late. The developer finally announced the long-awaited expansion to its other big game, Cyberpunk 2077. During a recent episode of Night City Wire, a YouTube show all about Cyberpunk, the expansion was announced alongside a spate of other new info.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty will feature a new cast of characters who V will cross paths with in Night City. The opening teaser trailer features an ominous voiceover of V pledging to serve the “New United States of America,” while Keanu Reeves’ rocker rebel Johnny Silverhand mutters that taking the oath was a “bad idea.” Reeves confirmed he will return to voice Johnny for the expansion.

Phantom Liberty is slated for release in 2023 on PlayStation 5, PC, Xbox Series X|S, and Stadia. Notably, it does not appear this expansion will release on previous generation platforms like PlayStation 4 or Xbox One despite the fact that the mainline Cyberpunk 2077 game is available for them. Not an unheard of thing, but worth noting if you’re one of the millions of people who play Cyberpunk on those systems.

Beyond the Phantom Liberty announcement, a new patch for Cyberpunk 2077 went live this week that introduced a bunch of items from the upcoming Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime from Studio Trigger, which premieres on Netflix next week. Patch 1.6 allows players to acquire the jacket worn by the anime’s protagonist David Martinez, as well as other items. It also brings in some highly requested quality of life updates for the game, including a transmogrification system (aka, changing the appearance of your clothing), cross-platform progression, and a Roach Race arcade mini game.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners premieres on Netflix on September 13.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels