Development on the remake of the first Witcher game has been placed on the back burner, CD Projekt Red has confirmed. Progress on the project is dependent on advancements made in the development of The Witcher 4.
CD Projekt Red stated that the remake, being handled by Fool's Theory, will be built upon the foundation of The Witcher 4. This production process dependency means that necessary assets, tools, and pipelines for the remake cannot be finalized until The Witcher 4 has made further progress. Consequently, Fool's Theory's primary focus is currently on the development of "Songs of the Past," an expansion for The Witcher 3, with a smaller portion of their team supporting The Witcher 4.
This decision to pause the remake's active development was communicated alongside other Witcher-related updates. The studio acknowledged that announcing the remake in 2022, without having the foundational work complete, may lead to expectations about its release timeline.
The studio also recently saw layoffs for its multiplayer Witcher spin-off, Project Sirius. As of CD Projekt Red's latest financial results, the majority of the studio's developers are allocated to The Witcher 4 and the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077. Reports also indicate the company is looking to expand the team working on a mysterious game codenamed Project Hadar.