CD Projekt Red Announces Next Game in The Witcher Series in Development in New Unreal Engine-Epic De

System · March 2022

CD Projekt Red Announces Next Game in The Witcher Series in Development in New Unreal Engine-Epic Deal | MMORPG.com

There's a new game in The Witcher series and CD Projekt Red will develop it in Unreal Engine 5 as part of an expansive new deal with Epic Games.

Read the full story here

Slapshot1188 · March 2022

Read the books and watched the show but never played the games. Will check the new one out though.

Kyleran · March 2022

I own all three Witcher games, other than a few hours on the first one which didn't grab me I've never played them.

Maybe after I retire, but I do enjoy the Netflix series.

TheDalaiBomba · March 2022

Hot take: moving away from Geralt (at least for now) as the playable character would probably be the best move.

I love love love the Witcher games, they're some of the best open world RPGs ever made... But even I was getting weary of having this one sole perspective on the IP's world.

Iselin · March 2022

TheDalaiBomba said:

Hot take: moving away from Geralt (at least for now) as the playable character would probably be the best move.

I love love love the Witcher games, they're some of the best open world RPGs ever made... But even I was getting weary of having this one sole perspective on the IP's world.

A "be your own witcher" option would be a nice change of pace. The game has bee seriously missing that option for a long time and it turns many people off t the game.

But if I were betting, I'd bet we'll be playing as Ciri the whole game next time around.

Pher0cious · March 2022

Iselin said:

TheDalaiBomba said:

Hot take: moving away from Geralt (at least for now) as the playable character would probably be the best move.

I love love love the Witcher games, they're some of the best open world RPGs ever made... But even I was getting weary of having this one sole perspective on the IP's world.

A "be your own witcher" option would be a nice change of pace. The game has bee seriously missing that option for a long time and it turns many people off t the game.

But if I were betting, I'd bet we'll be playing as Ciri the whole game next time around.

If I were betting with you. I'd bet a make your own character open world daily grind live service game cause that's where all the money is made KA-CHING KA-CHING KA-CHING

Sovrath · March 2022

Iselin said:

TheDalaiBomba said:

Hot take: moving away from Geralt (at least for now) as the playable character would probably be the best move.

I love love love the Witcher games, they're some of the best open world RPGs ever made... But even I was getting weary of having this one sole perspective on the IP's world.

A "be your own witcher" option would be a nice change of pace. The game has bee seriously missing that option for a long time and it turns many people off t the game.

But if I were betting, I'd bet we'll be playing as Ciri the whole game next time around.

Just so long as they make the combat better. They still can't get it right.

Angrakhan · March 2022

I liked The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, so I'll keep an eye on this.

Kratier · March 2022

easy to ignore games when they are epic exlusives

cameltosis · March 2022

I've tried to get into The Witcher 3 on a number of occasions now, but it always fails to grab me. There is extremely little roleplaying in the game, god knows how they get to call it an RPG, but I can see its appeal as an adventure game / interactive story.

Then again, from the interviews I've read with CDPR, I've come to understand that they are simply a studio with the opposite philosophy to me.

CDPR start with a story, and then develop the game in order to tell that story. In their eyes, the gameplay is a distant secondary objective. For me, I couldn't care less about the story, I don't think games are a good medium for telling stories. I care about the gameplay first.

All that said, I do enjoy the Witcher books (well, apart from that bit where they tried to merge the witcher with the king arthur mythology.....) and I really like the TV series, so im happy that the IP is being expanded further. Even if I won't enjoy the new game, its still a good thing for other fans.

BrotherMaynard · March 2022

Iselin said:

TheDalaiBomba said:

Hot take: moving away from Geralt (at least for now) as the playable character would probably be the best move.

I love love love the Witcher games, they're some of the best open world RPGs ever made... But even I was getting weary of having this one sole perspective on the IP's world.

A "be your own witcher" option would be a nice change of pace. The game has bee seriously missing that option for a long time and it turns many people off t the game.

But if I were betting, I'd bet we'll be playing as Ciri the whole game next time around.

Unlikely, it would be a mess trying to develop deep and expansive stories and world. A big part of the series' appeal has been in how Geralt (and all his baggage) fit into the world and how the world reacts to him. Doing a 'be your own witcher' would lead to a much shallower game. Also, CDPR is known to prefer well-defined characters that they themselves create and control the narrative - except Gwent all their games have been like that.

The image points to the School of the Cat, with two interesting implications:

Intriguing story, since their witchers have a lot of history and not always positive one, they're no strangers to controversy.
Players should be able to play as male or female witcher.

Kratier said:

easy to ignore games when they are epic exlusives

You do know that CDPR own the GOG store, right? And that all Witcher games have been selling exceptionally well on Steam, right? And you're just posting random thoughts, right?

Groqstrong · March 2022

Hopefully it doesnt have the development time and bugs CP2077 had.

Scorchien · March 2022

They need to not hit a homerun with there next Witcher, but a Grand Slam is needed..

After CP2077 they have managed to strip there market value by over 65% , OGTLF selling today @ 37$ ...

but i digress

BrotherMaynard · March 2022

Scorchien said:

After CP2077 they have managed to strip there market value by over 65% , OGTLF selling today @ 37$ ...

Don't be so melodramatic, it was all on hype. CDPR's market value today is about double of what it was in post-Witcher 3 times (well more than double if you only count early post-W3 period). People and investors let their hype spiral out of control before the launch of CP2077 and the stock value in 2020 was completely unrealistic.

eoloe · March 2022

I am a sucker for open worlds.

Weirdly the Witcher 3 did not work with me. My bet is that I am the kind of player who do not like to impersonate a pre-defined character.

Slapshot1188 · March 2022

BrotherMaynard said:

Iselin said:

TheDalaiBomba said:

Hot take: moving away from Geralt (at least for now) as the playable character would probably be the best move.

I love love love the Witcher games, they're some of the best open world RPGs ever made... But even I was getting weary of having this one sole perspective on the IP's world.

A "be your own witcher" option would be a nice change of pace. The game has bee seriously missing that option for a long time and it turns many people off t the game.

But if I were betting, I'd bet we'll be playing as Ciri the whole game next time around.

Unlikely, it would be a mess trying to develop deep and expansive stories and world. A big part of the series' appeal has been in how Geralt (and all his baggage) fit into the world and how the world reacts to him. Doing a 'be your own witcher' would lead to a much shallower game. Also, CDPR is known to prefer well-defined characters that they themselves create and control the narrative - except Gwent all their games have been like that.

The image points to the School of the Cat, with two interesting implications:

Great.. now @kyleran will even be in the Witcher games...

Sovrath · March 2022

cameltosis said:

I've tried to get into The Witcher 3 on a number of occasions now, but it always fails to grab me. There is extremely little roleplaying in the game, god knows how they get to call it an RPG, but I can see its appeal as an adventure game / interactive story.

Then again, from the interviews I've read with CDPR, I've come to understand that they are simply a studio with the opposite philosophy to me.

CDPR start with a story, and then develop the game in order to tell that story. In their eyes, the gameplay is a distant secondary objective. For me, I couldn't care less about the story, I don't think games are a good medium for telling stories. I care about the gameplay first.

All that said, I do enjoy the Witcher books (well, apart from that bit where they tried to merge the witcher with the king arthur mythology.....) and I really like the TV series, so im happy that the IP is being expanded further. Even if I won't enjoy the new game, its still a good thing for other fans.

I think we've discussed this before but I more align to with CD Project in that I couldn't care less about game play but prefer a great experience. If that's a story based game then "great story" or if it's some sort of visual extravaganza then "that."

I'll add that when movies were first becoming "a thing" there were many who thought that they were a poor medium for storytelling.

I would say they are a great way to tell a story because they allow for interactivity and a certain type of engagement for the player.

Vrika · March 2022

Kratier said:

easy to ignore games when they are epic exlusives

CD Projekt Red owns gog.com -store. Their games are not going to be Epic exclusive, not as long as they are trying to succeed with their own store.

The partnership is likely to be about engine tech, just like they said it would be. REDengine is one of the best, if not the best, engines for making an open world RPG with a lot of cinematics. It's liable to have some stuff in it that Epic would pay to get implemented in Unreal Engine's future versions.

decease · March 2022

look like bat man to me... wait... they don't have any connection do they? school of bat?

finefluff · March 2022

We've reached a point where better (more realistic) graphics aren't going to cut it anymore. Imo, their choice of engine should be based on how easy it will make it for them to build the game so they can focus on design and playtesting. That is what will actually result in a good game. Hopefully, unreal can provide that for them, but it sounds like they are going to be doing some work under the hood too.

Mensur · March 2022

Lets hope they dont pull a cyberpunk on us! Hopefully this will be CDs redemption!

Jakobmiller · March 2022

eoloe said:

I am a sucker for open worlds.

Weirdly the Witcher 3 did not work with me. My bet is that I am the kind of player who do not like to impersonate a pre-defined character.

I probably resonate with this as I benched Cyberpunk over a weekend and enjoyed it way more than the 150h or so I've tried to get into Witcher 3 and play it through.

TheDalaiBomba · March 2022

Sovrath said:

Iselin said:

TheDalaiBomba said:

Hot take: moving away from Geralt (at least for now) as the playable character would probably be the best move.

I love love love the Witcher games, they're some of the best open world RPGs ever made... But even I was getting weary of having this one sole perspective on the IP's world.

A "be your own witcher" option would be a nice change of pace. The game has bee seriously missing that option for a long time and it turns many people off t the game.

But if I were betting, I'd bet we'll be playing as Ciri the whole game next time around.

Just so long as they make the combat better. They still can't get it right.

Considering development had to account for multiple thrown objects/Xbow, multiple Swords, and multiple magic spells, I thought the Witcher 3 combat was excellent.

Responsive, slo-mo to help navigate the numerous items/spell quick menus, a sidestep and a roll dodge to bring even dodging more depth than the average action RPG... Even the target lock camera worked better for me than ER's.

Witcher 3 was one of the pinnacles of true RPG combat imo. Not the only way to do it, but a damn fine way.

Scot · March 2022

A fine series so far, so you can only hope this one will shine as well. I must admit I am puzzled by the negative comments, I guess the game finds it hard to keep ahead of all the other gorgeous 3D open world RPG franchises out there.

Neoyoshi · March 2022

Unreal 5 needs to simply be the best thing to happen in a long time, because the previous 2 versions of the engine has a reputation for not handling open-world environments well.

So as others have stated, CDPR HAS to hit a grand slam with this if they are looking to have any hopes in climbing out of the rot they kinda got themselves in with their lackluster management issues.

If anything, this might be them hitting the reset bottom and rewinding time a bit, back to when they partnered with Bioware to create the Witcher 1 with their engine.

At least i hope that's what this is, because they absolutely got a inflated ego when Witcher 3 broke awards and accolades records and made them superstars and the CEO a billionaire, so this is me hoping that the disaster of Cyberpunk humbled them again.

BrotherMaynard · March 2022

Neoyoshi said:

Unreal 5 needs to simply be the best thing to happen in a long time, because the previous 2 versions of the engine has a reputation for not handling open-world environments well.

So as others have stated, CDPR HAS to hit a grand slam with this if they are looking to have any hopes in climbing out of the rot they kinda got themselves in with their lackluster management issues.

If anything, this might be them hitting the reset bottom and rewinding time a bit, back to when they partnered with Bioware to create the Witcher 1 with their engine.

At least i hope that's what this is, because they absolutely got a inflated ego when Witcher 3 broke awards and accolades records and made them superstars and the CEO a billionaire, so this is me hoping that the disaster of Cyberpunk humbled them again.

Nah, they are doing fine, their share price is stable, financials look good (almost 50% increase from Q3 2020 to Q3 2021), Witcher 3 remaster is set to release in Q2 2022, which will again sell like hot cakes... I'd say you're letting your own impressions and emotions cloud your view here.

On the topic of the engine and open world, you are spot on. That's why this is not a standard licensing deal. They actually signed a 15-year contract (a "licensing and partnership agreement") with Epic that will let them jointly work on the engine.

My guess is that CDPR realised it's pointless to constantly invest millions upon millions into keeping graphics fidelity of their Red Engine competitive and instead will get that directly from Unreal Engine 5 (and possibly 6 and 7, considering the duration of the contract). Epic will get CDPR engine programmers develop UE in areas where it never worked well, especially large open world RPG support and cinematics - those two are where the Red Engine has always been best.

All in all, a good deal for both CDPR and Epic - CDPR games will have top notch visuals without heavy investments and Epic will have their engine adapted for open world narrative-driven cinematic RPGs (= more and better UE licensing deals in the future).

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CD Projekt Red Announces Next Game in The Witcher Series in Development in New Unreal Engine-Epic De

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CD Projekt Red Announces Next Game in The Witcher Series in Development in New Unreal Engine-Epic De

Comments

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

mmorpg junkie since 1999