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CD Projekt confirms Witcher remake will be an open-world RPG

The remake of 2007's The Witcher will follow more to the style of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

TJ Denzer

November 29, 2022 7:10 AM

Image via CD Projekt

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If you’ve ever had a look at the original Witcher from 2007, you may well know that it’s a very different game from most of what came after. The remake of it seemingly won’t be, though. Where 2007’s The Witcher was an RPG of its time that looked similar to the likes of Champions of Norrath, CD Projekt has confirmed it will be making the previously announced Witcher remake an open-world RPG, likely more in the vein of The Witcher 3.

This detail was recently shared by CD Projekt RED in its Q3 2022 earnings results on November 28, 2022. In said presentation, a slide dedicated to a few details on the remake of the original Witcher is featured. There, The Witcher Remake is described as a “story-driven, single player open-world RPG – a modern reimagining of 2007’s The Witcher.” It could have been guessed that the remake of The Witcher would stray from its original design. Later Witcher games would give players the opportunity to explore much of the world at their heart’s content as they hunted monsters and engaged in the wars, diplomacy, and subterfuge of the land… Sword and magic ever in hand, of course.

It was back in October that CD Projekt announced that the remake of the original The Witcher was in the works under the development of third-party studio Fool’s Theory. Developed in Unreal Engine 5, The Witcher remake is set to feature a multitude of improvements over the original game. Notably, being open-world means it will stray away from the corridors and arenas of enemies which dominated interaction in the first game. It would seem likely that the camera styles would also be reworked to be closer to the more cinematic and action-accenting camera of later games.

There’s still a lot we don’t know about The Witcher remake. It’s likely quite a ways off, but CD Projekt and Fool’s Theory seem to be excited about what it will bring to the franchise. Stay tuned as we continue to watch for further details and reveals as they become available.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.