CD Projekt Red has confirmed that layoffs have occurred on its multiplayer Witcher spinoff, codenamed Project Sirius. The news was initially reported by Kotaku and subsequently confirmed by the company to IGN.
According to the statement provided to IGN, the staff reductions affected nine individuals. Four employees in CD Projekt's Boston office and five in its Warsaw headquarters lost their positions. Additionally, nine other staff members have been offered the opportunity to apply for roles on different projects within the company. As of April 30, Project Sirius had 83 staff members assigned to it, a number that has now presumably decreased to around 60.
"We adjusted the size of the Sirius team to reflect the project’s needs at this stage of development," a CD Projekt spokesperson stated. "As a result, four people in Boston and five in Warsaw are leaving the company, while nine others have been invited to internal recruitment processes for potential roles on other CD Projekt Red projects."
CD Projekt acquired The Molasses Flood, the Boston-based developer of "The Flame in the Flood," in 2021 to work on Project Sirius. However, the project has encountered difficulties since its inception. This is not the first instance of layoffs related to Sirius; in 2023, CD Projekt announced that the game had adopted a "new framework" after a development restart, which was also followed by staff reductions.
While there has been no indication that Project Sirius has been canceled, it has been nearly four years since its announcement, and CD Projekt has yet to reveal any gameplay or substantial details about the title. Meanwhile, the company is actively developing other major projects, including The Witcher 4, Cyberpunk 2, and a new intellectual property known as Project Hadar. Furthermore, an expansion for The Witcher 3 is slated for release next year, alongside a remake of the original The Witcher game.
CD Projekt has outlined an ambitious strategy to release The Witcher 4, The Witcher 5, and The Witcher 6 within a six-year timeframe. This plan suggests that further expansions for The Witcher 4 are unlikely, and Cyberpunk 2 will also need to be integrated into this release schedule at some point.