CD Projekt Red's upcoming Witcher game, tentatively titled Project Sirius, seems to have had a problem.
In a regulatory statement released on March 20, the developers of one of the greatest RPGs of all time announced their intention to cancel funding (opens in a new tab) allocated to the project. Project Sirus is in development at The Molasses Flood studio, which CD Projekt Red acquired in October 2021.
The decision to write off 33,4 million Polish zlotys (approximately £6,25 million at the time of writing) stems from an "assessment of the scope and commercial potential of the original Sirius project concept." In the regulatory announcement, CD Projekt Red made it clear that "continued work" was needed to "formulate a new framework for this project. In short, this statement strongly suggests that Project Sirius has undergone some kind of reboot.
Set in the Witcher universe, Project Sirius was originally intended to differentiate itself from other CD Projekt Red titles by offering multiplayer gameplay alongside a single player campaign experience. The Molasses Flood, a smaller studio with experience creating multiplayer titles like Drake Hollow, was ready to take on this ambitious project. Although the Sirius project is still in development, as far as we know, it looks like CD Projekt Red could push the project in a new direction in the coming months.
Those anticipating the release of The Witcher 4 need not worry, however, as the sequel, codenamed Project Polaris, does not appear to be affected by this announcement.
pet projects
Project Sirius is one of five titles currently in development by CD Projekt Red or the studios it has acquired. In addition to Sirius and Project Polaris, the long-awaited sequel to The Witcher 3, Projects Orion, Canis Majoris, and Hadar are in development.
CD Projekt Red must be spinning a lot of turntables right now
Orion will be a continuation of Cyberpunk 2077 in the Cyberpunk franchise, while Canis Majoris is intended to be a "complete Witcher game, separate from the new Witcher saga that begins with Polaris" (via IGN (opens in a new tab)) . Project Hadar is the most mysterious of the five, promising a game set on a "completely separate IP, built from scratch within CDPR."
Any way you look at it, CD Projekt Red must be making the rounds right now with this ambitious portfolio. Overseeing the development of five games simultaneously is quite a difficult task, so it's not surprising that there can be occasional hiccups.
While this may be disappointing news for fans of The Witcher, it's important to remember that developing a game is a long and delicate process. It is far better to err on the side of caution to ensure your game is on a solid footing than to commit to an unsustainable long-term project. While it's daunting in the short term, this kind of thoughtful, methodical thinking from CD Projekt Red is likely to lead to better games in the future.