CD Projekt Red has grown to be one of the most well-respected and popular development studios in the industry, boasting an array of successful franchises under its umbrella. The company recently held an investor call outlining its near-future plans for its most exciting IPs like Cyberpunk and The Witcher, with a surprisingly comprehensive amount of exciting announcements being made.

It is no secret that CD Projekt Red has come under some criticism in recent years due to the tumultuous launch of Cyberpunk 2077, but the fan reception to the recent investor call is a clear indication of the continued support for the development studio. While most of these announcement concern franchises that are already well-established, it seems that CD Projekt Red is looking to expand even further into new IPs.

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The Witcher Announcements

The Witcher

The Witcher series of games is arguably the flagship franchise that comes under the CD Projekt Red name. Finding its video game roots all the way back in 2007, The Witcher games and the tale of Geralt have won the hearts of a wide-spanning fan base over the course of three massively successful mainline titles.

A testament to just how popular The Witcher franchise has become is present in the fact that the series has recently been adapted to TV, with The Witcher receiving its own well-received Netflix show starring Henry Cavill. With this popularity in mind, it is no wonder that fans have eagerly been anticipating news of a new installment to the series, and the recent Projekt Red announcements did not disappoint.

While news of a Witcher 4 has been circulating for some time, the recent investor call confirmed that the next Witcher installment will be the first of a trilogy of mainline games that will come under the franchise. Along with this exciting announcement, CD Projekt Red also confirmed that two additional titles set within the Witcher universe are set to begin development, codenamed Project Sirius and Project Canis Majoris.

Both of these codenamed titles are set to be developed externally from CD Projekt Red, offering exciting new twists to the established gameplay formula of The Witcher. For example, it is reported that Sirius will offer a comprehensive form of multiplayer as well as single player gameplay, while Canis Majoris will be a more traditional story-driven experience. The investor call also confirmed that The Witcher 3 is still set to come to current generation consoles this year.

Cyberpunk Announcements

cyberpunk 2077 key art

The Cyberpunk franchise is considered to be one of the most ambitious and controversial franchises that comes under the CD Projekt Red name, making its long-awaited debut within the gaming industry in 2020 with the notorious Cyberpunk 2077. Being announced all the way back in 2012, the unprecedented amount of hype surrounding the title arguably led to a rushed release, with Cyberpunk 2077 having one of the most disastrous launches that a large-scale title has ever received.

While this was a definite blow to the launch of the new story, the franchise has miraculously staged a form of a comeback in recent months. Many point to the success of the recent Netflix show Cyberpunk: Edgerunners as the source of this second wave, reaffirming the strong and mutually beneficial relationship between CD Projekt Red and Netflix.

In the wake of this recent resurgence of the franchise, CD Projekt Red surprisingly announced a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, which is currently codenamed Cyberpunk Orion. Billed to "prove the full power and potential of the Cyberpunk universe," it is clear that the studio feels it can give the franchise the installment that it deserves with Orion, especially considering the much improved current state of 2077 compared to its launch state. While it is likely that Orion is very far off, with Cyberpunk 2077 still yet to receive its anticipated DLC expansion named Phantom Library, it is understandably a fascinating prospect for fans of the franchise.

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Project Hadar

cd projekt red hadar

One of the most surprising announcements to come from CD Projekt Red's recent investor call came with the announcement of Project Hadar. This mysterious new title is set to bring about the launch of a brand new IP for Projekt Red, marking the company's first foray into a new franchise that has no prior source material to draw inspiration from.

Of course, very little is currently known about Project Hadar, with the game still likely being in the very first stages of early pre-development. According to CD Projekt Red, Hadar has been on the back-burner at the company for some time, with the correct amount of resources finally being available to push the new title into the next stage of development and public knowledge.

This ambitious news comes essentially simultaneously with the announcement that CD Projekt Red is set to open up a new studio hub in Boston, with the company establishing itself further in North America alongside its existing Vancouver hub. While this new Boston hub is set to focus primarily on Cyberpunk content, it is clear that the company is at a stage of rapid growth and development.

With the popular Cyberpunk and Witcher franchises covering a wide breadth of potential settings and gameplay genres, many fans are understandably curious as to what kind of game Hadar will turn out to be. That being said, it remains clear that CD Projekt Red will reveal more as time goes on, with a litany of releases and projects scheduled to become clearer and excite fans even further in the very near future.

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