The Witcher 3 – CD Projekt is keeping quiet on the specifics though (pic: CD Projekt)

Despite suspicions to the contrary, CD Projekt has insisted it’s not cancelled one of its the Witcher projects.

Remember when there were genuine discussions about whether CD Projekt would survive Cyberpunk 2077’s disastrous launch? It’s almost hard to believe since the company has otherwise repaired its image thanks to subsequent Cyberpunk 2077 updates/patches and currently has no less than four new games in the works.

Aside from the obvious Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, fans of The Witcher can look forward to the start of a new saga and a full remake of the very first game.

The fourth and final project, known as Project Sirius, is billed as a Witcher spin-off but you may need to forget everything you didn’t know about it since development is being started from scratch.

There were concerns earlier this month that Project Sirius might have been cancelled altogether, when CD Projekt reported that it was taking an impairment charge on it.

For the less business savvy among you, this suggested that CD Projekt was scrapping the project and trying to recoup some of the costs.

1/ CD Projekt Group is taking an impairment charge on Project Sirius. It looks like they evaluated the commercial viability of the current design and decided against it. Taking a charge indicates they want the expenses taken *NOW* because they serve no value to the company. https://t.co/mjuxGcozSX

— Game Over Thirty (aka RallyCarDelta) (@GameOverThirty) March 20, 2023

In a recent financial earnings call, however, CD Projekt assured investors that this wasn’t entirely the case. No, the game isn’t being cancelled, but development is restarting.

‘We need to be ready to re-evaluate our original concepts. Even if the if development work is already underway,’ says president and joint CEO Adam Kiciński.

‘On March 20, we announced that we want to create a new framework for Sirius. We also decided to establish an empowerment allowance on Sirius development expenditures. It was a tough decision to make. But we also believe it was the right one.

‘Our intention was to cut costs early and give ourselves time for reassessment. We don’t want to carry on with projects that we are not aligned with.’

No real explanation was given as to what specifically had gone wrong with Project Sirius, to prompt a full reset, with chief financial officer Piotr Nielubowicz only adding: ‘I’m aware that it’s not great to hear from a company that the project is being re-evaluated.

‘But at the same time, in order to stay innovative, we must experiment and be brave when trying new paths. And to stay in control and keep the right course, especially with a project that is new to us in terms of design developed by a new studio in our family, we need to keep evaluating the situation as we move along. It’s better to cut costs early and even restart if needed than to carry on.’

As a reminder, Project Sirius isn’t in development at CD Projekt Red, the main game development studio, but rather The Molasses Flood, a subsidiary CD Projekt acquired in 2021.

While The Molasses Flood has two games under its belt already – survival titles The Flame In The Flood and Drake Hollow – Project Sirius will be its first game under CD Projekt.

With it also being a Witcher game – one of the company’s core IPs – CD Projekt is naturally going to be more involved, and be more controlling, with the project.

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Details on the game itself remain slim, with the initial announcement only calling it an ‘innovative take on The Witcher universe’ that will offer single and multiplayer options.

Although the decision to have four full-fledged projects on the go at once may suggest otherwise, CD Projekt’s willingness to start one of them over could mean it still remembers the Cyberpunk 2077 fiasco and is eager to avoid something similar happening again.

Cyberpunk 2077 – never forget (pic: YouTube)

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Despite suspicions to the contrary, CD Projekt has promised it’s not cancelled one of its the Witcher projects.