In early October 2022, CD Projekt Red — the Polish studio that weathered one of gaming's most public stumbles — stepped forward with a sweeping vision of its future, announcing multiple Witcher projects, a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, and an entirely new intellectual property. The announcement is less a product reveal than a statement of intent: a studio that nearly broke under the weight of its own ambition is now betting that ambition, properly managed, is still its greatest asset. It is the kind of roadmap that speaks not just to players, but to the deeper human question of whether redemption is
CD Projekt Red unveils ambitious pipeline: two Witcher games, Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, new IP
The studio is betting it can move forward before finishing what it started.
Mark
So CD Projekt Red is announcing all these games at once—two Witcher projects, a Cyberpunk sequel, and something called Hadar. Why reveal everything now instead of spacing it out?
Mimi
They're signaling stability. After Cyberpunk 2077 nearly sank the company, investors and players needed to see a plan. This roadmap says: we know what we're doing, we have resources, we're thinking years ahead.
Luke
But here's the thing—they announced it, they didn't show it. Project Sirius and Polaris are in pre-production. Canis Majoris is being made by an external studio. Hadar isn't even in development yet. These are promises, not products.
Mimi
True, but the acquisition of Molasses Flood is real. The Unreal Engine 5 work is real. They're not making this up.
Mark
What about the Cyberpunk sequel? That seems like a huge commitment when the first game still needs work.
Mimi
They're betting they've fixed enough of it. The Complete Edition was supposed to come out in 2022, and they barely mentioned it in this announcement. That's telling—they're moving on.
Luke
Or they're moving on before they've finished. The Complete Edition got buried in a press release about four other games. That's not confidence; that's distraction.
Mark
So which of these games will actually come out first?
Mimi
The Witcher games, probably. Sirius and Polaris are already in pre-production. Cyberpunk 2077 sequel is still in planning. Hadar is just creative groundwork.
Luke
And we don't know how long pre-production takes at CD Projekt Red. After Cyberpunk, their timelines aren't exactly trustworthy.
Mark
Fair point. But does this roadmap actually tell us anything about when we'll play these games?
Mimi
Not really. It's a vision statement, not a release schedule. What it does tell us is that CD Projekt Red thinks it can survive by being a multi-franchise studio, not a one-hit wonder.
Der Puls
- CD Projekt Red is juggling at least five major projects simultaneously, a scale that would challenge even the most seasoned studios.
- The Cyberpunk 2077 sequel — codenamed Orion — carries the full weight of the original's disastrous 2020 launch, making its announcement both bold and fraught with expectation.
- Two Witcher games in pre-production pull the franchise in opposite directions: Project Polaris deepens the single-player tradition while Project Sirius experiments with multiplayer and broader audiences.
- A third Witcher title, Canis Majoris, is being developed externally using tools built for Polaris, signaling an effort to scale output without sacrificing consistency.
- Hadar, a brand-new IP still in its conceptual infancy, hints at a studio determined to outgrow its own franchises — though it remains years from any tangible form.
- Notably absent was any meaningful update on The Witcher 3 Complete Edition, suggesting the studio's gaze is firmly fixed on the horizon rather than unfinished business.
In early October 2022, CD Projekt Red — the Polish studio that weathered one of gaming's most public stumbles — stepped forward with a sweeping vision of its future, announcing multiple Witcher projects, a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, and an entirely new intellectual property. The announcement is less a product reveal than a statement of intent: a studio that nearly broke under the weight of its own ambition is now betting that ambition, properly managed, is still its greatest asset. It is the kind of roadmap that speaks not just to players, but to the deeper human question of whether redemption is possible through craft.
In early October 2022, CD Projekt Red unveiled a long-term development roadmap that confirmed the studio's intention to operate across multiple franchises simultaneously. The announcement was striking in its scope — and in what it implied about a studio still rebuilding its reputation after Cyberpunk 2077's troubled 2020 release.
Three Witcher projects occupy the immediate pipeline. Project Polaris will continue a new single-player trilogy at the scale the franchise is known for. Project Sirius, developed by recently acquired studio Molasses Flood, takes a different direction entirely — incorporating multiplayer elements and targeting a broader audience than CD Projekt Red has traditionally pursued. A third title, Canis Majoris, is being handled externally using Unreal Engine 5 and tools built specifically for Polaris, an approach designed to maintain technical consistency across the portfolio.
The confirmation of a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, internally codenamed Orion, was perhaps the announcement's most charged moment. Given the original game's catastrophic launch and the years of patches required to stabilize it, a sequel represents a significant act of institutional confidence — a declaration that the franchise has a future worth investing in.
Most speculative of all is Hadar, a codename for a wholly original intellectual property still in its earliest conceptual stages. No world, no tone, no mechanics have been finalized — only the ambition to create something new. Its presence on the roadmap alone signals that CD Projekt Red sees itself as more than the sum of its existing franchises.
The studio offered little on The Witcher 3 Complete Edition beyond a vague commitment to a 2022 release, a conspicuous omission that underscored where its attention now lies. Taken together, the roadmap is a high-stakes wager: that a studio once brought low by overreach can master the art of doing many things well at once.
CD Projekt Red laid out an ambitious roadmap in early October 2022 that revealed the studio's plans to sustain itself across multiple franchises for years to come. The announcement confirmed what many had suspected: the Polish developer was doubling down on The Witcher universe while simultaneously planning a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 and venturing into entirely new creative territory.
The immediate pipeline centers on three Witcher projects, all in various stages of development. Project Sirius, being developed by Molasses Flood—a studio CD Projekt Red had recently acquired—is designed to reach a wider audience and will incorporate multiplayer elements, a departure from the studio's traditional single-player focus. Project Polaris represents the continuation of a new Witcher trilogy and will be a substantial single-player experience built to the scale players have come to expect from CD Projekt Red's work in the franchise. A third Witcher game, Canis Majoris, is being developed externally using Unreal Engine 5 and tools that CD Projekt Red created specifically for Project Polaris, suggesting an effort to maintain visual and technical consistency across the portfolio.
Beyond The Witcher, the studio confirmed it has begun planning a full sequel to Cyberpunk 2077. The company framed this as an opportunity to push the franchise further and continue exploring the potential of its dark future setting. This announcement carried particular weight given the troubled launch of the original game in 2020, which faced widespread technical problems and player backlash. A sequel signals the studio's confidence that it can rehabilitate the franchise and build on the foundation it has since strengthened through patches and updates.
Perhaps most intriguing is Hadar, a codename for an entirely new intellectual property being created from scratch within CD Projekt Red. The studio emphasized that this project remains in its earliest creative stages—the foundation-building phase where developers are establishing the world, tone, and core concepts before actual production begins. This means Hadar is years away from becoming a playable game, but its existence on the roadmap demonstrates CD Projekt Red's ambition to expand beyond established franchises.
One notable absence from the announcement was any substantial update on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition, which the studio had previously committed to releasing in 2022. CD Projekt Red offered only a reiteration that the update was coming that year without elaborating on timing or scope. The studio's focus on new projects rather than updates to existing ones suggests a shift in priorities as it attempts to move forward from the Cyberpunk 2077 crisis and establish itself as a multi-franchise powerhouse. The roadmap, taken as a whole, represents a significant bet on the studio's ability to manage multiple large-scale projects simultaneously while rebuilding trust with players.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
CD Projekt Red framed the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel as an opportunity to push the franchise further and continue exploring the potential of its dark future setting.— CD Projekt Red announcement
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