CD PROJEKT CEO accidentally refers to Polaris as “The Witcher 4”

CD PROJEKT’s CEO, Adam Kiciński, called the in-development Witcher project, Project Polaris, "The Witcher 4" in an investor call yesterday. Since then, CD PROJEKT has come out to state that it was a “slip of the tongue.”

The details:

• During the company's year-end investors call, Kiciński responded to a question about moving its projects to Unreal Engine 5, saying that its developers are currently "working together with Epic on all those aspects that are needed for open-world, story-driven RPGs," before adding that Polaris' development will "maybe not slow down, but it won't accelerate." Kiciński explained why the team made the decision to switch, stating that it plans to release three "big" Witcher games in the next six years, "starting from the release of Polaris, which is Witcher 4."
• CD PROJEKT announced Project Polaris in March 2022, and while it was not officially referred to as "The Witcher 4," many connected the dots, pointing out that it made sense that the next game in the series would be a fourth mainline entry, especially given The Witcher 3's popularity since its release. Radek Grabowski, CD PROJEKT's global PR director, tweeted shortly after the announcement that the company had not announced The Witcher 4, but that it was the "initial confirmation of a new saga," before adding that further details would not be revealed at the time.
• As for the other Witcher projects, a PvE co-op game codenamed "Project Sirius" by Boston-based studio The Molasses Flood has been rebooted after $10 million was spent on it, according to a recent company report. A remake of the original Witcher from 2007 is also in the works, in collaboration with the Polish studio Fool's Theory, some of whose staff has previously worked on Witcher titles. Given the transition from the original zone-based structure to an open-world setting, the game is unlikely to be released before 2024.

More CD PROJEKT news:

• CDPR will create a brand new IP from the ground up for the first time in the company's history. Early conceptual work began in 2021, with "ongoing work on the foundations of this world—laying the setting for a third separate product line in the future" currently underway.
• The company's main development studio, CD PROJEKT RED, has announced the launch of a new playtesting program for future releases. The majority of the playtests will take place in the main Warsaw studio, but they will also take place in the company's Vancouver and Boston studios, as well as other locations in the future. However, the program is entirely voluntary, and the company will not reimburse travel expenses.
• Phantom Liberty, Cyberpunk 2077's first and only DLC, will reportedly have the highest budget of any CD PROJEKT RED expansion. Unsurprisingly, the budget has shot up with the confirmation that Keanu Reeves will reprise his role as Johnny Silverhand, with Idris Elba joining the cast as FIA agent Solomon Reed.