After CD Projekt Red followed through on its projected release window for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S upgrades for Cyberpunk 2077, hope remained that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt would follow suit. Having already faced one delay, the long-awaited upgrade to the Polish developer’s critical darling continues to remain out of reach.
Today, CD Projekt Red announced the decision to push the game’s patch beyond the expected release window, which was the second quarter of 2022. According to The Witcher’s official Twitter account, development is now being handled in-house, with the team “currently evaluating the scope of work to be done.” The project has been delayed indefinitely, with the team stating that fans would be updated as soon as possible.
Up until now, The Witcher 3’s current-generation upgrade was being handled by Saber Interactive. If that name sounds familiar, you may recognize the team for its work on the Crysis Remastered Trilogy, as well as its co-development duties on Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The Witcher 3’s upgrade, which is hitting both current-gen consoles and PC, was originally slated for a 2021 release window before being pushed back into the second quarter of 2022.
Saber Interactive may have worked on noteworthy projects, but has a hit or miss track record. Most recently, the original Crysis suffered from major performance issues. Additionally, it was missing many features from the 2007 PC release, such as granular environmental destruction and physics interactions. While we can only speculate without an official statement, perhaps CD Projekt Red’s decision to handle development directly meant that Saber Interactive wasn’t meeting quality standards for such a highly regarded title.
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