Cyberpunk 2077 dev explains why it chose to make that game instead of more Witcher

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt sure caused a sensation in 2015. It was a brilliant RPG with a great story and characters, and even if the combat wasn’t up to the other parts of the game, it was still exciting and fun.

In short, The Witcher 3 was a rollercoaster ride through the fantasy world of Temeria that sold millions of copies and helped cement Polish developer CD Projekt Red as one of the best RPG studios. It did generate its share of controversy, though, and also had the author of the Witcher books riled over his lack of compensation for the games’ success too…

You may wonder then, given what a hit The Witcher 3 was, why CD Projekt chose to focus on Cyberpunk 2077 after finishing the Blood and Wine expansion for The Witcher 3, instead of making The Witcher 4 (or maybe just The Witcher 3.5 to cash in on the earlier game’s success).

Well, CD Projekt’s founder Marcin Iwinski recently answered this question in an interview at E3, explaining that the reasons boil down to wanting to explore new things and push the bar higher, and also the developer’s failed attempts at focusing on more than one big project at a time.

“We want to push the bar higher with every single game release. It’s not about getting The Witcher 3.5 out there which would be fairly easy–of course it’s very difficult. Using the same engine, telling the same stories; the technology is established. And making a quick dollar. But that’s not [what we do]”, said Iwinski.

Also, CD Projekt’s attempt at splitting its developers into two teams to work on two big games proved unsuccessful, meaning those hoping to play another Witcher game in the near future will still have to wait for quite some time.

This is because CD Projekt is still putting the finishing touches on Cyberpunk 2077 (undoubtedly the most exciting game shown at E3 this year), and that game won’t ship until April 2020, assuming no delays.

Thankfully, CD Projekt’s Marcin Iwinski is open to the idea of more Witcher games, as he said in the E3 interview. “We would love at a certain point to tell more stories about The Witcher, but when and how I cannot tell you now”, said the CD Projekt man.

It’s a good thing, though, that CD Projekt chose to focus on one major game, pouring all its efforts into making sure Cyberpunk 2077 ends up being the best game it can possibly be. Other major game companies like Ubisoft have attempted to launch two major games in one year with less than stellar results, so CD Projekt’s focus may pay off here, meaning its fans are likely to be in for a treat when Cyberpunk 2077 launches next year, even if some may still long for more Witcher to come our way in the not too distant future.