CD Projekt RED has announced a full-on Unreal Engine 5 remake of the first game in The Witcher series, and it will be fully open world.
We already knew that The Witcher is getting an Unreal Engine 5 remake. This was announced by CD Projekt RED on October 26 and was massively exciting news. The game will be "rebuilt from the ground up" in the brand-new engine.
The Witcher Remake In Early Development
The Witcher remake will be developed by Polish studio Fool's Theory, with "full creative supervision" by CD Projekt RED. Fool's Theory is a relatively new studio, featuring developers who worked on The Witcher before. The studio has most recently helped during the development of Outriders and is currently working on Baldur's Gate 3 as a support studio.
We didn't get many more details on questions like the release date or platforms yet, which is a shame. It was emphasized, that the game is in "the early stages of development". Here's what Adam Badowski, Head of Studio at CD Projekt RED, said about the project in the official announcement:
“The Witcher is where it all started for us, for CD PROJEKT RED. It was the first game we made, ever, and it was a big moment for us then. Going back to this place and remaking the game for the next generation of gamers to experience it feels just as big, if not bigger. 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. 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.”
The Witcher Remake Will be Fully Open World
As we all know, or at least people old enough to have played the original, The Witcher from 2007 was not an open world game. However, CD Project Red briefly mentioned in their third quarter financial results that The Witcher Remake being a "Story-driven, single player open-world RPG" as you can see in this picture taken from the report:
The new project has been previously teased by CD Projekt RED as Project Canis Majoris, when they announced a bunch of new games including new Witcher and Cyberpunk titles. But up until now, we only knew that the remake would be another "full-fledged" Witcher game. Considering that the first Witcher game is extremely outdated, the idea of a beautiful new version in Unreal Engine 5 is just so exciting. Let's hope they don't do a Cyberpunk 2077 on this one though...