TODAY Witcher fans who missed out on the original PC version of The Witcher – which released 15 years ago back in 2007 – may be surprised to hear CD Projekt Red intends to release a remake.
The original Witcher game had an old and outdated combat system that consisted of a very deep RPG system and a timed mouse click system, and by modern standards is in real need of a make over.
No news has been made on the direction the remake development team is heading apart from their use of the Unreal Engine 5, but suffice to say, I’m very excited about this and long time fans of the series should be happy too as this has been a much requested remake as the game doesn’t really hold up today.
This isn’t the first overhaul the original Witcher game has had – it received an ‘Enhanced’ version of the game in 2008, adding more NPC’s to the game and improved the graphics via BioWare’s Aurora Engine.
Players of the original Witcher game were thrown into the deep end of the story, following the events from the books – Geralt of Rivia has woken up with amnesia with only a few flash backs to what had happened.
This would serve as the premise for the entire trilogy of games, culminating in what many consider to be one of the best games ever made, The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt. We here at GOA also named The Witcher 3 the game of the decade back in 2020.
As of 2020, the entire Witcher series has sold upwards of 50 million units.
Below is the press release provided by CD Projeckt Red:
We are thrilled to announce that The Witcher Remake is being worked on! That’s right, the game that started it all is being rebuilt from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5.
The game is currently in the early stages of development at the Polish studio Fool’s Theory, where veteran Witcher series staff are involved. We, as CD PROJEKT RED, are providing full creative supervision.
The Witcher Remake is what you might know by the codename “Canis Majoris”. It’s still early and we want to ensure that the game is created with the utmost care and attention to detail, therefore, while we’re excited to share the news with you, we want to ask you for patience as it will be a while until we start talking about this project in detail.
“The Witcher is where it all started for us, for CD PROJEKT RED. It was the first game we made, ever, and it was a big moment for us then. Going back to this place and remaking the game for the next generation of gamers to experience it feels just as big, if not bigger,” said Adam Badowski, Head of Studio, CD PROJEKT RED. “Collaborating with Fool’s Theory on the project is just as exciting, as some of the people there have been previously involved in The Witcher games. They know the source material well, they know how much gamers have been looking forward to seeing the remake happen, and they know how to make incredible and ambitious games. And although it will take some time before we’re ready to share more about and from the game, I know it’ll be worth the wait.”
