Rick Lane
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Much has happened to CD Projekt Red since the Witcher 3 released 10 years ago. Following its launch, CDPR became one of the most respected game studios in the world, before having its reputation destroyed and then redeemed by the disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077 and the excellent Phantom Liberty expansion respectively. And it has grown enormously since Geralt embarked on his culminative adventure in 2015, now employing more than 1100 people with studios in Boston and Vancouver as well as Warsaw.
All of which begs the question: to what extent is CD Projekt the company it once was, and what does this mean for upcoming projects like The Witcher 4? Well, an answer of sorts was provided by company CEO Michal Nowakowski, who stated on X that “around 100” of The Witcher 3’s designers are still at the studio.
Nowakowski stated this in a quote of a tweet made by The Witcher 4’s narrative director Philipp Weber, who celebrated the two-year anniversary of The Witcher 3’s newest quest on Wednesday.
The Witcher 3 turns 10 this May. Around 100 of its developers are working with us to this day on our new projects, including The Witcher IV. Some are actually veterans from The Witcher 2 and The Witcher 1, including my esteemed co-CEO, @AdamBadowski , who has been with the… https://t.co/9Sry1S6yh2January 9, 2025
Now, there are a couple of important clarifications here. Nowakowski states that these 100 people are working “with us” on projects “including” the Witcher 4, which could mean not all of them are working on that game, with some probably in senior positions on the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel. Moreover, as raised by MiyaGi in the replies, Nowakowski doesn’t specify what proportion of the Witcher 3 team 100 people represents.
Nowakowski does clarify this in a reply to MiyaG, however, stating “We were north of 200 people on the Witcher 3”. This would mean slightly under half of that team remains at CD Projekt—not a bad retention rate over the course of a decade. Nowakowski also responded to another query from user Syarofi_ibn_Zamah, who asked “Is it many old experienced members on the team for Witcher 4? Or many recent newly hired?” To this, Nowakowski specified that “The main Story Director is the same person since Witcher 1. The main vision holder is the same person since Witcher 1. And I have been around since [sic] 20 years too.”
Although the Witcher 4 remains a long way off, we know a fair bit more about it since the game’s formal reveal at The Game Awards last December. CD Projekt is pitching it as an origin story charting Ciri’s emergence as a Witcher, calling it ‘A new opening, a new saga, a new beginning actually’. Also, Gwent is definitely coming back, and the game might give players more freedom to create their own builds, Cyberpunk 2077-style.