The Witcher 3 next-gen update was recently pushed back to 2023, but CD Projekt Red wants fans to know it’s not in “development hell.” During the developer’s most recent financial results call, a representative from CD Projekt Red raised questions about the postponement of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series versions.
“When it comes to the launch of next-gen Witcher 3, I want to make a comment. I’ve been looking at the headlines on the internet and one has caught my attention: ‘Witcher 3 Next-Gen is postponed indefinitely.’ “[This] Sounds like the game is in some kind of development hell. I want to say it’s not a fact. There have been many indications that we will start in June next year. That is absolutely not the case,” the representative said.
He added: “The game is being finalized internally. Nobody says the game is delayed in some monumental kind of time gap ahead of us.”
While CD Projekt Red didn’t exactly use the phrase “delayed,” it said in a tweet yesterday that it “has to postpone its Q2 release until further notice.”
We have decided to let our in-house development team handle the remaining work on the next-gen version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. We are currently evaluating the scope of work to be carried out and as such have to postpone the release of Q2 until further notice. 1/2
— The Witcher (@witchergame) April 13, 2022
The next-gen version was previously developed externally by Russian studio Saber Interactive, but CD Projekt Red said it “decided to let our in-house development team handle the remaining work.” There was no mention of whether the project was impacted by ongoing sanctions against Russia, which has effectively halted trade amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The upgrade, which will be free for the 40 million people who bought the original version of the game, was originally set to launch late last year but was pushed back to the second quarter of 2022 after a supervisor decided there was more development time required.
The same was said for Cyberpunk 2077 and its next-gen release was delayed until Q1, but CD Projekt Red managed to meet that goal when it launched the upgraded game in February.
In our 9/10 review, IGN said, “Massive in size and meticulously detailed, The Witcher 3 ends Geralt’s story on a high note,” and it also won our Game of the Year.
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