Update: The Witcher 3 next-gen update is now slated for a Q4 2022 release.
Developer CD Projekt Red has reconfirmed that fans of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will get a next-gen PS5 and Xbox Series X patch in the back-half of 2021.
The announcement came via a strategy update video posted on the studio's YouTube channel. There, joint-CEO Adam Kiciński laid out a roadmap for what fans and investors can expect from CD Projekt Red throughout the year.
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The video below is light on Witcher 3 details overall. Luckily, in a blog post last year, CD Projekt Red confirmed that the next-gen update will include ray tracing support and faster loading times. It's also likely that fans will see a bump in resolution to either 1440p or 4K and increased framerates.
Apart from the next-gen patch slated for the second-half of 2021, The Witcher: Monster Slayer will come out later this year. It's a mobile game similar to Pokémon Go, in which GPS data and augmented reality will allow players to slay monsters from the Witcher universe.
Cyberpunk 2077 will see a massive 1.2 patch that will include hundreds of fixes. CD Projekt Red has recommitted to more patches and updates, as well as free DLCs and a next-gen update.
After last year's shaky launch of Cyberpunk 2077, which led to class-action lawsuits and refunds, Kiciński reiterated CD Projekt Red's core values. It includes quality, passion, tolerance and fairness, independence and a gamer-centric approach. The comments section is cautiously optimistic. While fans were burned by Cyperpunk 2077, given the transparency of the studio and lingering goodwill from The Witcher 3, it seems that there's room for trust-rebuilding and forgiveness.
CD Projekt Red is restructuring the studio to allow for parallel AAA game development. Without getting into the weeds of studio structure, ultimately CD Projekt Red is trying to undo the studio culture that led to the botched release of Cyberpunk 2077. This means better communication and more agile cross-game collaboration.
pic.twitter.com/WI5CnPLAJxMarch 30, 2021
CD Projekt Red is still committing itself to being a single-player story-driven RPG studio first. While it's willing to experiment with mobile offshoots like Monster Slayer, or competitive card battle games like Gwent, The Witcher and Cyberpunk will be pillars for the company.
That means that CD Projekt Red will use its existing franchises to expand its userbase. Fans can expect more toys, figurines, comic books, anime and television shows. The Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime is already in the works at Netflix. And of course, fans are eagerly anticipating The Witcher season 2 on Netflix as well.
An exact date for The Witcher 3's next-gen patch was not revealed.
