CD Projekt Red has lifted the veil off its previously announced ‘Canis Majoris’ project. The Polish developer responsible for Cyberpunk 2077 is overseeing development on a remake of the original game in The Witcher trilogy. The announcement was confirmed on the official Witcher website in a recent developer news post.
Although details are limited, CD Projekt Red does reveal some key information regarding the remake. It is being developed from the ground up using Unreal Engine 5. That means there shouldn’t be any reused assets making this a true remake. CD Projekt Red itself is not developing the remake, though. Instead, The Witcher remake is being handled by another Polish studio, Fool’s Theory.
Fool’s Theory is a medium-sized developer based in Bielsko-Biała. It has previously contributed to a range of successful games including Baldur’s Gate III, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and Outriders. Alongside the newly announced remake, Fool’s Theory also has an unannounced RPG in the works titled Project Vitriol.
On paper, Fool’s Theory seems like a good choice to create a remake of The Witcher. As stated in the announcement, several current employees of Fool’s Theory have worked on The Witcher franchise in the past. CD Projekt RED’s studio head, Adam Bakowski, writes in the blog post that he’s excited about the project, saying Fool’s Theory knows how to make “incredible and ambitious games.”
Engine upgrade
This is an early announcement, so it’s unlikely we’ll hear more about it for a while. Even so, it’s exciting to think about what many consider an RPG classic to be reborn. Despite it being well received, The Witcher is 15 years old and would benefit greatly from a remake.
The original Witcher was developed using BioWare’s Aurora Engine. Although still relevant at the time, the Aurora Engine dates back to 2002 and was already showing its age by The Witcher‘s 2007 release. With the remake being developed using a modern, state-of-the-art engine like Unreal Engine 5, it’s hard to imagine just how good it could look.
The original Witcher’s (2007) visuals have aged considerably since release.
Published: Oct 26, 2022 11:00 am