In a recent financial call with investors, CD Project Red executives insisted delay to The Witcher 3's next-gen upgrade, which previously bore a Q2 2022 release window. CD Projekt Red postponed the project's release earlier this week, telling fans that the change in plans happened amid a decision to finish the production in-house.
Notably, the Polish studio originally contracted Saber Interactive to handle the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of The Witcher 3, a rather shrewd choice given Saber's work on the generally well-received Nintendo Switch port. Why exactly CD Projekt Red chose to part ways with the port studio remains a mystery at present. As a result, pundits and enthusiasts have been left to draw their own conclusions, a few of which posit that Geralt of Rivia's adventure on the new-gen hardware may be in dire straits.
While discussing The Witcher 3's next-gen update in a recent earnings call with investors (via PC Gamer), CDPR's SVP of Business Development, Michał Nowakowski, lamented how news outlets have described the delay as "indefinite." This terminology makes it seem as though the project's "in some sort of development hell," he argued, insisting that suggestions about a summer 2023 release are wildly inaccurate. "Nobody's saying the game is delayed [with] some monumental time gap ahead of us," Nowakowski continued, divulging that taking development in-house will require the production team to evaluate its time.
In fairness, the use of indefinite translates to little more than an unspecified amount of time. It's fair to say, however, that the term does bear some negative connotations in the case of recent CD Projekt Red releases. Still, the company's refusal to stamp a firm date or release window on The Witcher 3 upgrade seems a wise move this time around, especially since the last two announcements failed to work out in the end.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt hit store shelves for PC, PS4, and Xbox One platforms in 2015 and immediately took the world by storm. On the outside looking in, CD Projekt Red managed to launch the next evolution in open-world games overnight. And the game's popularity spawned a worldwide phenomenon, one that inarguably led to the Netflix series based on the original source material - Andrzej Sapkowski's fantasy novels. Now, in addition to awaiting a Witcher 3 update on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, franchise faithful are also eager to see what CDPR does in its next mainline Witcher entry.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Source: PC Gamer
