CD Projekt has delayed the next-gen version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which has been in development by Saber Interactive. The Polish company will finish the production itself, though it is unclear when the upgrade will come out.
“We are currently evaluating the scope of work to be done and thus have to postpone Q2 release until further notice,” CD Projekt said in a statement on Twitter, noting that its in-house team will “conduct the remaining work.”
We’ll update you as soon as we can. Thank you for your understanding. 2/2
— The Witcher (@witchergame) April 13, 2022
Although the company didn’t disclose specific reasons behind this decision, this could be due to CD Projekt’s previous announcement to suspend all its operations in Russia in the wake of the military actions in Ukraine. Last month, the Polish company stopped selling its games in Russia and Belarus, extending this ban to all titles distributed via its digital storefront GOG. CDPR also banned Russian players from participating in official GWENT tournaments.
To provide more context, Saber Interactive, founded in 2001, is a US company, which is now a part of Embracer Group. The company currently owns over 20 studios across the globe, including 4A Games, 3D Realms, New World Computing, and Aspyr Media.
Although Saber is headquartered in Florida, one of its key studios with around 700 employees is located in Saint Petersburg, Russia. This team was in charge of The Witcher 3’s next-gen upgrade, as well as the game’s port to Nintendo Switch and upcoming third-person shooter Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2.
The new version of The Witcher 3 was expected to come out on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S in the second quarter of 2022. However, it is now unclear when CD Projekt will be able to finish the production, considering all the work needed to be done on Cyberpunk 2077’s upcoming DLC and the beginning of a new Witcher game development.