CD Projekt Red, the studio behind The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077, has completed the "world vision" stage for its new intellectual property, codenamed Project Hadar. The developer has officially begun working on turning these concepts into a video game, although it has not yet entered pre-production.
"The team has begun work on the game, although it's not yet in pre-production," stated Joint CEO Michał Nowakowski. He added that the company has a coherent vision for the world and its key elements, calling it their "biggest undertaking to date" which has taken several years.
In September, CD Projekt Red reported that it was expanding its team for Project Hadar, with a group of over 30 developers already in place and plans to increase that number to 50 by the end of the year. A job advertisement in June described the role of an engineering director who would help "push the envelope for the next, immersive game in the Hadar world, creating an emotional, open-world experience that will stay with gamers," indicating the game will feature an open-world design.
CD Projekt Red is also currently developing The Witcher 4, which is slated for release in 2028. Before that, a third major expansion for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, titled Songs of the Past, is scheduled for release next year. Developed by Fool's Theory, this expansion aims to connect The Witcher 3 and the next game in the series, which will star Ciri. Following these projects will be Cyberpunk 2, the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077. CD Projekt has outlined an ambitious plan to release all three games in the new Ciri-fronted Witcher trilogy within a six-year period, suggesting potential release years of 2028, 2031, and 2034 for The Witcher 4, 5, and 6 respectively. The placement of Project Hadar within this release schedule remains undetermined.
Details regarding Project Hadar's world or setting have not been revealed. In other CD Projekt Red news, the anime series based on Cyberpunk's universe is set to debut on Netflix on October 20. The studio also recently released a remaster of The Witcher 3 on consoles and PC, addressing initial visual issues such as excessive bloom.