Witcher 3 ‘next-gen’ update postponed indefinitely

polygon.com:

An enhanced version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X won’t make its release window in the first half of 2022, CD Projekt Red said Wednesday. The company made the announcement on Twitter, saying that it was bringing the project in house. CD Projekt did not set a new release window.

“We have decided to have our in-house development team conduct the remaining work on the next-gen version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt,” CD Projekt said. “We are currently evaluating the scope of work to be done and thus have to postpone Q2 release until further notice. We’ll update you as soon as we can. Thank you for understanding.”

Saber Interactive, the developers behind the excellent version of Wild Hunt for Nintendo Switch, had previously been working on the project.

Released in 2015, Wild Hunt is the most critically-acclaimed game in the franchise’s history. Its visual fidelity and mechanical complexity have earned it a place among the best modern PC games, including here at Polygon.

The goodwill earned by the commercial and critical success of Wild Hunt helped to spur on consumer interest in Cyberpunk 2077, an ambitious title based on a universe created by R. Talsorian Games. Unfortunately, that product was delayed multiple times before being released in an extremely buggy state. The fallout from that botched release led to a personal apology by the company’s CEO. Additionally, a long period of crunch was required to bring the game over the finish line.

News of Wild Hunt’s delay comes one month after the company announced that the next title in the Witcher franchise was in development, and that it would use Unreal Engine 5 as part of a “multi-year strategic partnership with Epic Games.”